Spring Rhythms with the HSU Percussion Ensemble and Calypso Band

It wouldn’t be an HSU Percussion Ensemble concert without an array of exotic instruments playing complex rhythms from around the world—and this spring is no exception.

The featured work on Saturday evening, April 26 will be “Ketjak” by renowned Japanese composer, Akira Nishimura. Scored for six percussionists playing multiple instruments, this piece is based on the famous Balinese "Monkey Chant," in which 100 men sit in a concentric circle and chant in complex interlocking rhythm.

“This piece captures the deep emotion of the ‘Monkey Chant’ in a dramatic percussive orchestration,” said Dr. Eugene Novotney, director of the Percussion Orchestra. “It pushes the six players to the limits of their technique and musicality.”

The concert includes two of Novotney’s compositions. Both works showcase unusual instruments. “Scratch” is composed for a quartet of Guiros (scrapers), and “SEAR/CHING” for a quartet of hand-made tube-o-phones, producing unusual sounds due in part to their tuning (19-tone rather than 12-tone equal temperment), unfamiliar to western ears.

A suite of traditional Mandeng (West African) drumming, and a Brazilian Samba arranged for authentic indigenous instruments will conclude the Percussion Ensemble’s half of the show.

Then the ever-popular Humboldt State Calypso Band takes over, with the emphasis this year on Panorama compositions: the high-energy dance music of the Caribbean Carnival in Trinidad and Tabago.

“The Band prides itself in maintaining an accurate and authentic connection to the roots of the steel band movement and the innovative musicians of Trinidad, where this music was born,” Dr. Novotney said.

In addition to its regular performances at Humboldt State and throughout Northern California, the band has undertaken tours to San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities in northern and southern California, as well as Eugene, Oregon and Seattle, Washington.

The HSU Percussion Ensemble and the Humboldt State Calypso Band perform on Saturday, April 26 at 8 PM in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Admission $7 general, $3 students and seniors from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928), the Works in Eureka and Arcata, and The Metro in Arcata, or at the door. First 50 HSU students free with ID. Directed by Howard Kaufman and Dr. Eugene Novotney; HSU Music Department production.