Now This is Heavy Metal!

In their combined spring concert, the HSU Percussion Ensemble and the celebrated Calypso Band may provide a new definition of “heavy metal” when they perform in the Van Duzer Theatre on Saturday night, April 28.

The first half of the concert includes Mandeng Drumming from West Africa and folkloric drumming from Cuba. The featured work is a John Cage composition, “First Construction in Metal,” an American avant-garde piece from 1939. As described by HSU Professor of Music Dr. Eugene Nototney, “it calls for more than 50 instruments constructed of metal, including gongs, anvils, cymbals, bells and thunder sheets.”

“There’s a grand piano, played by a traditional pianist but with live sound alteration and manipulation by a percussionist who performs on the interior of the piano strings. Many consider this Cage’s finest early work,” he concludes, “so this performance should not be missed!”