OSU Percussion Ensemble to premiere new music for season finale

Thursday, April 9, 2015

The Oklahoma State University Percussion Ensemble will premiere three new pieces of music during its final concert of the academic year on Sunday, April 12, at 2:30 p.m. in the Seretean Center Concert Hall on the OSU campus. The ensemble is under the direction of OSU Percussion Instructor Wayne Bovenschen.

The first premiere piece presented will be “Dance Circles,” written by OSU graduate Nathan Jones. It was composed in the summer of 2014 in recognition of OSU being selected to perform at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention last November.

The next premiere is a marimba quartet by LA composer Dwayne Rice aptly titled “Quartet No. 1 in F.”  The work was written in the style of a romantic string quartet and is well suited for the marimba.  

The final premiere piece, “Hands Up,” is a work by Texas composer Ivan Trevino revolving around very current events. The piece references the events in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, without promoting a specific message –just a reflection of the impact on the culture of today.

The concert will close with a favorite of the ensemble, “Prelude to Paradise,” by Jacob Remington.  As the composer puts it, “Prelude to Paradise was written to reflect my personal views of the chaotic events surrounding the end of days as they are depicted in the Book of Revelation.”  This is one of the most exciting pieces to be written for percussion ensemble in recent years that will soon become an audience favorite as well.

General Admission tickets are $8, students and senior citizens are $6. Tickets will be available one hour before the concert or online at http://marketplace.okstate.edu.