Concert Program
Student Recital Series
Evan Miller, Graduate Percussion Recital
Saturday, March 28, 2026
11 am
Recital Hall
Concert Program
Program
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American Accents
|
Vanessa Lann (b. 1968) |
| Emma Cho, percussion | |
| Vanessa Lann, a Dutch-American composer, frequently experiments with how she shares sound, media, and time with audiences – blurring the boundary between art and experience. “American Accents” highlights how performers’ gestures change a phrase’s nature. This piece uses repetition and layering of structures based on number ratios, reaching extremes with limited means. Embedded in this work are the relationships between two players, percussion and voice, performance and experience, and more. | |
| Dalrymple | Hollis Taylor (b. 1951) Jon Rose (b. 1951) |
| “Whistling in the Dark” by Hollis Taylor and Jon Rose is a series of duets between Australian human musicians and Pied Butcherbirds. For two decades, Taylor has studied these birds, collecting many recordings for dissection. “Dalrymple” was recorded in Charter Towers, North Queensland. Rose transcribed parts of this recording and others, and arranged them for Australian instrumentalists in 2020, intending to connect performers and listeners to their environments during the COVID-19 pandemic. | |
| A Sense of Place I. The Mask, II. Shaka’s Victory Dance |
Peter Klatzow (1945-2021) |
| Oskar Kaut, cello | |
| Peter Klatzow, South African composer and pianist, brings together the marimba and cello in a menacing duet. This work emphasizes what Klatzow loved most about each of these instruments: their ability to maintain rhythmic pulse and to sing lyrical melodies. The relationship between these two instruments is skillfully balanced in “A Sense of Place”. The piece is also based on color woodcuts by Cecil Skotnes. “The Mask” and “Shaka’s Victory Dance” draw on Skotnes’ South African influences. | |
| Rooted | Brian Blume (b. 1985) |
| Brian Blume is an American percussionist, composer, and educator. The motivation for writing “Rooted” came as a result of his reflection on life changes. Through seasons of change, aspects of life get uprooted, or thrown into disorder. However, throughout change, some things remain and persist. In less than 25 years, my own life has seen many seasons of change. Playing this piece reminds me of what makes me feel most “rooted”: my relationships, my family, and exploring the world around me. | |
| Rain Tree | Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996) |
| John Wolff, marimba Jonathan Lucke, marimba Jacob Morgan, lighting |
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| Toru Takemitsu was a Japanese composer who gained much musical inspiration from nature and other artistic mediums. He once likened his own music to a walk through a garden, which is particularly fitting to this composition. This percussion masterwork showcases how earth’s natural beauty inspires art. Meticulously crafted textures, coordinated lighting, and interlocking musical material between three players create an engaging multi-sensory performance in Takemitsu’s “Rain Tree”. | |
This performance is given in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Music degree.
Tickets
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