The Block

Andrew Spencer, percussionist

Saturday, November 11th, 7:30 pm

Doors and bar open at 7 pm

$20 and up

$10 student tickets

Buy Tickets

Former WMS principal timpanist Andrew Spencer performs compelling percussion sounds for his performance at The Block. An active recitalist and clinician, Spencer has performed as a soloist in the USA, Poland, Japan, Canada, and Costa Rica.

PROGRAM

Clapping Music by Steve Reich
If You Walked a Mile In My Shoes by Mike McFerron (with interactive computer)
All The Broken Instruments by Jay Batzner (with interactive computer)
Scratch by Rolf Wallin (Solo percussionist with one big red balloon)

INTERMISSION

Threads by Paul Lansky (30 quartet in ten short movements… stunningly beautiful)
‘S Wonderful by G. Gershwin arranged for marimba and vibraphone by Anders Astrad

On Nov. 10, percussionist Andrew Spencer joins guest conductor Bohuslav Rattay and the orchestra to play the 12-minute timpani concerto, Raise the Roof, composed by Michael Daugherty. As a former timpanist for the WMS Spencer played this same piece on the Frauenthal stage over 10 years ago. Since then Spencer has played the piece six times with orchestras in Midland, El Paso and with the CMU Wind Ensemble in Mt. Pleasant, MI. Raise the Roof incorporates styles such as a Cuban rumba called Guaguancó and a rock and roll section, while showcasing the timpani and highlighting what sounds are possible from it. The work opens lyrically and requires lots of tuning with the timpanist’s feet (using foot pedals) in what Spencer describes as an “athletic piece for a soloist.”

Spencer will be making his homecoming with us two times the weekend of Nov. 10. The following evening, Saturday Nov. 11, he returns to The Block, having performed “Dangerous Music” concert at our first season in the space. The 2014 concert featured instruments made of non-traditional items such as flower pots, cardboard boxes and even his own body. Since it was so well received, he will once again bring this type of music back to The Block on Nov. 11; opening with a minimalist piece by composer Steve Reich called Clapping Music. Spencer says the piece highlights “how sounds can create a melodic shape.” Also included in the Saturday evening concert will be a work called All the Broken Instruments written by Jay Batzner, a fellow composer at CMU. The work incorporates car coils, cymbals, clay flower pots and a sacred Zimbabwean instrument called an imbira. The work also combines interactive computer and the poetry of Robert Fanning, coupling it with the sounds played on the non-traditional instruments.

Another interesting work that will be performed that evening is a performance art piece written by Rolf Wallin called Scratch, which incorporates a big red balloon and all the sounds that can be made with it. Spencer says the work showcases the performer’s “love/hate relationship with the balloon.”

The second half of the concert will bring three of Spencer’s students from the CMU music department to join him for a cantata for percussion quartet written by composer Paul Lansky called Threads. Also featuring traditional and non-traditional instruments students Michael Hamilton, Colin Mudie, and Mikayla Bertelsen will join Spencer for the half-hour long piece. Highlighting the wide range of qualities that percussion instruments are capable of, the work ranges from lyrical and tender to forceful and aggressive, weaving the sounds into one continuous “thread”.

Andrew Spencer holds the position of Professor of Percussion at Central Michigan University. An active recitalist and clinician, he has performed as a soloist in the United States, Poland, Japan, Canada, and Costa Rica. In 1999, he released “Slender Beams,” a recording that features works by composer Dave Hollinden.

Andrew Spencer, percussionist

Saturday, November 11th, 7:30 pm

Doors and bar open at 7 pm

$20 and up

$10 student tickets

About

Former WMS principal timpanist Andrew Spencer performs compelling percussion sounds for his performance at The Block. An active recitalist and clinician, Spencer has performed as a soloist in the USA, Poland, Japan, Canada, and Costa Rica.

PROGRAM

Clapping Music by Steve Reich
If You Walked a Mile In My Shoes by Mike McFerron (with interactive computer)
All The Broken Instruments by Jay Batzner (with interactive computer)
Scratch by Rolf Wallin (Solo percussionist with one big red balloon)

INTERMISSION

Threads by Paul Lansky (30 quartet in ten short movements… stunningly beautiful)
‘S Wonderful by G. Gershwin arranged for marimba and vibraphone by Anders Astrad