Concert Program
Ensemble Recital Series
NIU PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE 2024 WINTER CONCERT
Gregory Beyer and Ben Wahlund, Directors
Ethan Cowburn, Assistant Director
With Special Guest, Robert Chappell
Hosts: Dr. Brian Hart and Dr. John Novak
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
7 p.m.
Boutell Memorial Concert Hall
Program
JOY TO THE WORLD | Watts/Handel arr. Wahlund |
HANEROT HALALU | Trad. Hanukkah arr. Wahlund |
CELLO SUITE NO. 5 IN C MINOR, BWV 1011 I. SARABANDE |
J. S. Bach
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Karl Olsen, marimba |
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I SAW THREE SHIPS WHAT CHILD IS THIS? |
Trad. English Holiday Carols arr. Gregory Beyer |
Ethan Cowburn, marimba |
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ANDA PARRANDERO | Los Tocadores Arr. Jalen Charles & Rashunda Dorset-Headley |
Members of the NIU Steel Pan Studio
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INTERMISSION
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Featuring Members of 2024 NIU Graduate Student Elite Sock Puppet Lip-Sync Troupe |
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LITTLE DRUMMER BOY | K. K. Davis arr. Wahlund |
WHAT WAS I MADE FOR? | B & F O’Connell arr. Wahlund |
SLAY RIDE | Leroy Anderson arr. Jesse Mattson |
Members of the 2024 NIU Percussion Methods Class |
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BRANCHES OF SNOW |
Robert Chappell |
Featuring Robert Chappell, Piano and Jalen Charles, Steel Pan |
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2024 MYSTERY-BOX SIGHT READING |
Jacques Morali & Victor Willis |
Personnel
D’Andre Atkins – Wheaton, IL
Christopher Avila – Algonquin, IL
Connor Butler – Mebane, NC
Emma Cho – Winfield, IL
Ethan Cowburn – Liverpool, NY
Greyson Decker – Sycamore, IL
Luiz Delacruz – Chicago, IL
Brayden Dulin – Woodstock, IL
Talia Grzelak – Elgin, IL
Delaney Jacobi – Cedar Rapids, IA
Andrew Kinsey – Bartlett, IL
Nolan Leegard – Elgin, IL
Nathan Lyons – Winnebago, IL
Rose Malcome – Rockford, IL
Nicholas Martinez – Elgin, IL
Evan Miller – Lincoln, NE
Aftyn Morris – Silvis, IL
Jacob Parra – Jupiter, FL
Will Pierce – Hoffman Estates, IL
Riley Podschweit – Sugar Grove, IL
Michael Powyszynski – Melrose Park, IL
Michael Speziale – Crystal Lake, IL
Morgan Tipton – Metamora, IL
Abby Vokoun – Batavia, IL
Shaliyah Young – Belize City, Belize
Emily Bychowski
Hailey Feddersen
Amanda Fujii
Vicky Gonzalez
Ronnie Gorka
Carmen Houde
Chloe McKendry
Anna Melik
Kelly Nelson
Isabella Rodriguez
Carlos Sims
Kaelyn Witt
About the NIU Percussion Ensemble
The award-winning NIU Percussion Ensemble is the principal vehicle through which NIU percussionists gain critical chamber music experiences and cover a wide variety of genres and musical instruments. In addition to its NIU performances each semester, community engagement concerts include Transformation Through Rhythm, an annual fundraiser benefiting Give DeKalb County which in turn benefits the more than 140 organizations that make up our county’s non-profit sector. NIU has established a proud history of multiple PASIC performances: Percussion Ensemble Showcase (2003, 2009), Focus Day Performances (2009, 2013), World Percussion Showcase (2014), and the New Literature Session (2018). Additional notable performances include the International Festival of Percussion Ensembles in San José, Costa Rica (2008, 2017) and the PAS Illinois Chapter (2005, 2009, 2017).
About the Directors: Gregory Beyer
Fulbright Scholar, composer, educator, and “prodigiously talented percussionist” (Chicago Classical Review), Gregory Beyer is a contemporary music specialist who blends the disciplines of orchestral, jazz, and world music into a singular artistic voice. He is the Artistic Director of Arcomusical, a non-profit organization spreading the joy of the Afro-Brazilian berimbau and related musical bows. To date, Arcomusical has released four albums of original music. Beyer is Professor and Director of Percussion Studies at Northern Illinois University School of Music, where he directs the New Music Festival and the Percussion Ensemble. He is a core member of the Chicago-based new music ensembles Dal Niente and the Grossman Ensemble at the University of Chicago’s Center for Contemporary Composition. Greg is proud to endorse Pearl/Adams drums and mallet instruments, Sabian Cymbals, Innovative Percussion mallets and sticks, and Evans drumheads.
About the Directors: Ben Wahlund
Ben Wahlund is a Grammy-nominated music educator, composer, and performer who serves as full-time percussion instructor at Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, IL) where he was recently awarded the prestigious NIU Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction Award and serves as the Director of Percussion at the College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL) where he was awarded the College-Wide Outstanding Faculty Award. Mr. Wahlund serves as the President of the Illinois Percussive Arts Society and has performed a number of times at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, state music educator association conferences, and schools across the country. He has been awarded and served long-term artist residencies on the island of Key West, Florida, Montello, Nevada, and Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Wahlund is a member of the Yamaha Performing Artist roster, the Zildjian Artist Program, and endorses Innovative Percussion Sticks and Mallets.