Marimbas, African Drums and More in HSU Percussion Showcase 

Three HSU ensembles bring the sounds of drums and marimbas to Fulkerson Recital Hall—along with gongs, tin cans and random radio music—in a Percussion Showcase on Sunday February 21. 

 The HSU Percussion Ensemble plays these unconventional instruments in Credo in US, a mind-expanding modern work by experimental composer John Cage. He wrote it in New York in 1942, shortly after his western sojourn during which he befriended North Coast artist Morris Graves. 

This piece also calls for an electronic doorbell buzzer, pre-recorded music and a piano, prefiguring what came to be known as the Cage style. “This is a highly influential work,” notes Percussion Ensemble director Eugene Novotney, “both in its scope and its imaginative nature.” 

 The Showcase moves from the futuristic directly to the deeply traditional with the next two ensembles, the HSU Marimba Band and West African Drumming Ensemble. 

 The Marimba Band performs two works inspired by traditional tribal music from Ghana, and a third piece adapted from a Zimbabwe melody. A marimba quartet performs “Omphalo Centric Lecture” by Australian composer Nigel Westlake. “This virtuosic piece is both captivating and mesmerizing, and it explores the beauty of the sound of the marimba in its full range and capacity,” Notvotney said.

The West African Drumming Ensemble performs a suite of the complex and highly rhythmic traditional drumming from that region, using only indigenous instruments. Joe Bishop, an HSU alum who has studied this music in West Africa, is the main drummer and directs the group. 

 Proceeds from this concert benefit the Humboldt Stage Calypso Band steelpan renovation and tuning project, a fund dedicated to refurbishing equipment for the future. 

 “The Calypso Band’s steelpans are in desperate need of tuning, painting, repair and refinishing,” said director Eugene Nototney. To enable this work this fund was created in the band’s 25th anniversary year and has made “significant progress towards our goal. But in this, the 30th anniversary year, “there is still much work to be done.” 

 HSU Percussion Showcase is presented on Sunday February 21 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8, $5 seniors and children, free to HSU students with ID, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Eugene Novotney and Joe Bishop, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Mad River Union, North Coast Journal The Set List, Times-Standard Urge, HSU Now.

Percussion Showcase: Program Notes

The featured work on the program is one of John Cage’s most innovative and revolutionary works from the 1940’s entitled, Credo in US.

This highly experimental work calls for one percussionists playing gongs, tom-tom, and tin cans, with another playing tom-tom, and tin cans, and an electronic doorbell “buzzer”. A third performer plays piano and tom-tom, while the forth performer plays pre-recorded classical music over a sound system, while mixing in random music and sounds generated by tuning-in to local radio stations. This fascinating work stands as one of the first examples in modern music where electronic and pre-recorded sounds are mixed with live performance, and is a highly influential work, both in its scope and in its imaginative nature.

 The HSU Marimba Band will follow, and they will be featuring a set of music inspired by the Marimba traditions of Africa. Two of the works that the band will present are arrangements created by Valerie Naranjo of traditional Gyil music of the Dagara and Lobi peoples of Ghana, West Africa. The third piece that the band will play is an adaptation of a traditional Shone Mbira melody from Zimbabwe.

 Also performing will be a marimba quartet playing a truly virtuosic marimba piece by the Australian composer Nigel Westlake entitled, Omphalo Centric Lecture. Both captivating and mesmerizing, it explores the beauty of the sound of the marimba in its full range and capacity.

 The show will end with a West African Drumming Ensemble, led by HSU student teacher, Joe Bishop. This group will be performing a suite of traditional Mandeng Drumming from West Africa using all indigenous instruments (Djembe, DunDun, & Balafon) and featuring driving rhythms and a dynamic rhythmic interplay.

 All proceeds from this special concert will be donated to the Humboldt State Calypso Band Steelpan Renovation & Tuning Project. The Calypso Band is now in its 30th season and its steelpans are in desperate need of tuning, painting, repair, and refinishing. The Humboldt State Calypso Band Benefit is a project that was initiated in 2010-2011, the band’s 25th anniversary year, with a goal of significantly repairing and improving the overall condition of the instruments used in the Calypso Band.

Thanks to contributions from parents, alumni, faculty, the HSU Music Department, the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, the HSU President's Office, and members of the community, we have made significant progress toward our goal. There is still much work to be done. We need your contributions to Keep the Humboldt State Calypso Band thriving for years to come!

--Eugene Novotney

Calypso Band Greatest Hits Plus Marimba and We Got the Beat 

 A youth group’s return, a marimba classic and some of the Calypso Band’s greatest hits are featured in an all-percussion concert on Saturday December 5 at the Van Duzer Theatre. 

 We Got the Beat is a group of student percussionists (grades 2 through 7) from Fresno. They perform all over California, and last played at HSU in April 2012. “They bring energy, excitement, and a high level of musicianship,” said HSU percussion professor Eugene Novotney, “and will fill everyone’s hearts with the joy of music.” 

 The Humboldt State Marimba Band performs “Omphalo Centric Lecture,” a marimba quartet composed by Australian percussionist Nigel Westlake. Premiered in 1986, this piece is played regularly around the world. Describing it as “captivating” and “mesmerizing,” Novotney said “it explores the beauty of the sound of the marimba in its full range and capacity.” 

 The concert’s first half concludes with the World Percussion Group morphing into a 30-piece samba band playing Samba Maracutu from Northern Brazil, on instruments from the region.

The second half belongs to the Humboldt State Calypso Band, which gears up for its 30th anniversary this spring with some of its greatest hits from past shows, as well as new tunes never heard before at HSU. Included in the mix are three Panorama classics as well as the band’s signature high-energy Calypso dance music. 

 The all-percussion concert is Saturday December 5 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre at HSU. Tickets are $10 general, $3 students, seniors and children from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.  Directed by Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman. “We Got the Beat,” directed by Brenda Myers, also plays a pre-concert set beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Media: Eureka Times-Standard Urge, Mad River Union, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now

Calypso Band & Percussion Concert Notes

Notes by Humboldt State percussion program director Eugene Novotney

The concert will start with a energizing set by the youth percussion group, We Got the Beat. We Got the Beat is a fun and interactive, hands-on, musical experience for young student musicians from 2nd to 7th grade based in Fresno, California.

 Led by percussionist Brenda Myers, "We Got the Beat" performs on a wide variety of percussion instruments and in many musical styles. They have performed throughout the state of California for events such as the California Music Educator’s Convention in Sacramento, the National Association of Music Merchants Trade Show in Anaheim, the Big Fresno Fair, and at the Oakland Day of Percussion with Pete Escovedo. They bring energy, excitement, and a high level of musicianship, and will fill everyone’s hearts with the joy of music.

In addition to starting the show, WGTB will be presenting a pre-concert set at 7:30pm as the crowd enters the theatre.

 The HSU Marimba Band will follow WGTB, and they will be featuring a truly virtuosic marimba piece entitled, Omphalo Centric Lecture, composed by the Australian composer Nigel Westlake. This piece is both captivating and mesmerizing, and it explores the beauty of the sound of the marimba in its full range and capacity.

 The first half of the show will conclude with the World Percussion Group, directed by Professor Howard Kaufman. The WPG will be presenting an authentic arrangement of Samba Maracatu from Northern Brasil on all traditional instruments. This arrangement is as good as it gets, and will feature a 30+ piece samba band playing authentic instruments from Brasil filling the room with pulsating sound.

The second half of the concert will showcase the festive island sounds of the Humboldt State Calypso Band. This fall, the Calypso Band is gearing up for their 30th anniversary by playing their “greatest hits” from the past 30 years of shows at HSU, as well as some new tunes never before heard at HSU.

The band will feature three Panorama compositions on this show - Ray Holman’s, “If We Really Want,” Boogsie Sharpe’s, “Misbehave,” and Andy Narell’s, “Coffee Street” - as well as a full mix of Calypso dance music. Many student steelpan soloists will be featured throughout the evening, and the Calypso Band’s performance is guaranteed to get you up on your feet!

The Humboldt State Calypso Band prides itself in maintaining an accurate and authentic connection to the roots of the steel band movement and the innovative musicians of Trinidad, the island on which this unique percussion phenomenon was born. The band is dedicated to the performance of traditional and contemporary music from the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, and the United States.

 In addition to its regular performances at Humboldt State and throughout Northern California, the band has undertaken tours to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Oakland, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Eugene, OR and Seattle, WA. Founded in 1986 by the band’s director, Eugene Novotney, the Calypso Band is celebrating its 30th anniversary at Humboldt State this spring, and holds the distinction of being the first ensemble of its kind in the entire California State University System.

Calypso Band Dance Rhythms Return 

 HSU Calypso Band brings its authentic Caribbean dance rhythms home after a triumphant northern California tour, and the Percussion Ensemble features a work highlighting Hawaiian rhythms on Saturday May 2 in the Van Duzer Theatre. 

 Back for its second concert this spring, the Percussion Ensemble presents for the first time this year a 1978 work by American composer Christopher Rouse called Ku-Ka-Illimoku, evoking indigenous Hawaiian rhythms. The performance also features 24 dancers choreographed by HSU Dance professor Sharon Butcher. 

 The Percussion Ensemble also performs Marimba Spiritual by Japanese composer Minoru Miki and a reprise of Toccata for Percussion by Mexico’s foremost composer Carlos Chavez. The HSU World Percussion Group presents authentic Afro-Cuban folkloric music based on the traditions of the Yoruba people of Nigeria.

 Then in what has become a pre-finals tradition, the HSU Calypso Band takes over for the rest of the high-energy evening. This year’s highlights include two Panorama classics by Len “Boogsie” Sharpe from the island of Trinidad: “Misbehave” and “Woman is Boss.” 

 The Calypso Band and its more than 40 steeldrums recently returned from a northern California tour, playing to enthusiastic audiences in Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Tomales, San Rafael and Berkeley. 

The HSU Percussion Ensemble and Calypso Band perform on Saturday May 2 beginning at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre. Tickets from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door: $10 general, $5 seniors and children, $3 HSU students. Directed by Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman, produced by HSU Music department.

Media: Times-Standard "Urge," Mad River Union, Humboldt State Now

Percussion Ensemble & Calypso Band: Director's Notes

Notes by Eugene Novotney:

The featured work on the program is Ku-Ka-Ilimoku, composed in 1978 by Christopher Rouse on commission from the Syracuse Symphony Percussion Ensemble.

The composer writes: "In Hawaiian mythology, Ku is perhaps the most fundamental and important of gods, occupying a place similar to that of Zeus in Greek mythology or Odin in Norse legend. Ku is manifested in several forms: as Ku-Ka-Ilimoku he represents the god of war. Thus this work for percussion ensemble is best viewed as a savage, propulsive war dance. Hawaiian chants are often based on as few as two pitches, and Hawaiian percussion emphasizes short, repetitive patterns. Underlying this surface simplicity is a wealth of subtle rhythmic inflection and variation. I incorporated this diversity to great effect, creating a tightly knit, exhilarating work. Although indigenous instruments are not employed, the timbre of their voices is evoked. The dynamic power of the Western instruments adds an intense level of ferocity to the proceedings."

 This performance of Ku-Ka-Ilimoku will be accompanied by dancers from the Humboldt State University Dance Program presenting an exciting contemporary dance inspired by the folkloric rhythms and dances of the “Hula Kahiko” tradition. The dance is choreographed by dance professor, Sharon Butcher, and entitled, Standing Here, With Red-Feathered Gods.

 Other featured pieces on the program will include the classic work, Toccata for Percussion, by Carlos Chavez and Marimba Spiritual by Minoru Miki.

The first half of the show will conclude with a suite of traditional Mandeng Drumming from West Africa, and a special presentation by the HSU World Percussion Group of authentic Afro-Cuban folkloric music based in the traditions of the Yoruba people of Nigeria.

 The second half of the show will feature the festive dance music of the Humboldt State Calypso Band. For 29 years, the Calypso Band has been performing and entertaining local audiences, and has proven to be one of Humboldt County’s favorite and most enduring musical ensembles.

The Calypso Band is comprised of an orchestra of over 40 steelpans (or steeldrums) representing the full symphonic range. This spring, the Humboldt State Calypso Band toured Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Tomales, San Rafael, and Berkeley, California, entertaining hundreds of listeners, and sharing their authentic Caribbean sounds with their enthusiastic audiences throughout Northern California.

For their performance in the Van Duzer Theatre, the Calypso Band will feature several high-energy dance compositions from the Caribbean in their set, including two modern Panorama classics composed by steelband legend, Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, from the island of Trinidad – Misbehave and Woman is Boss.

For 29 years, the Humboldt State Calypso Band has prided itself in maintaining an accurate and authentic connection to the roots of the steel band movement and the innovative musicians of Trinidad, the island on which this unique percussion phenomenon was born. The band remains dedicated to entertaining audiences with spirit, authenticity, and respect.

HSU Percussion: Toccata, Canticle and A Woman’s Right to Drum

 HSU Percussion Ensemble breaks out all the instruments for classic works by Carlos Chavez, Lou Harrison and John Cage, and the World Percussion Group plays a traditional piece from Ghana that celebrates a woman’s right to drum, on Sunday April 19.

 Mexican composer Carlos Chavez combined Central American, Asian and European instruments in his 1942 Toccata for Percussion. “Musically, he combines exciting rhythmic passages and sudden dynamic changes with slower passages that employ exotic scales and timbres,” said Percussion Ensemble director Eugene Novotney. 

John Cage, who asked Chavez to compose the Toccata, is on the program with Second Construction  from 1940. Lou Harrison’s Canticle #3 adds flute and guitar to an array of percussion instruments. The HSU Marimba Band ends the set with folkloric music from Mexico, Guatemala and Africa. 

 Directed by Howard Kaufman, the World Percussion Group follows with a set that features “Takada,” Ghana’s traditional celebration of a woman’s right to drum. HSU student teacher Joe Bishop leads a suite of Mandeng drumming from West Africa. 

Percussion Ensemble and World Percussion Group perform on Sunday April 19 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall. Tickets from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door: $8 general, $5 seniors and children, HSU students with ID admitted free. Directed by Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Eureka Times-Standard Urge, Mad River Union, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now.

Percussion Concert: Director's Notes

The HSU Percussion Ensemble will feature an exciting and diverse program of material presenting the listener with contemporary percussion compositions and soundscapes, as well as traditional drumming styles based in the music of Africa and Cuba.

The featured work on the program is Toccata for Percussion, composed in 1942 by the Pan-American composer, Carlos Chavez. Chavez was born and died in Mexico City, and at the age of 29, he was named the director of Mexico’s National Conservatory and the director of Orchesta Sinfonia de Mexico.

 In Toccata, Chavez mixes Central American percussion instruments (claves, maracas, bongos) with standard European percussion instruments (timpani, snare drums, field drums) and Asian instruments (gongs) to create a true “mixed-world” instrumentation. Musically, he combines exciting rhythmic passages and sudden dynamic changes with slower passages that employ exotic scales and timbres. The result is a piece that is both fascinating and profound.

 The Percussion Ensemble will also be presenting one of John Cage’s most famous and innovative works from the 1940’s entitled, Second Construction. This highly experimental work calls for percussionists playing traditional Western percussion instruments combined with exotic instruments from around the world, including Balinese Gongs, Indian Oxen Bells, African Pod-Rattles, and Chinese Temple Bells.

One of the more unusual instruments employed is Cage’s infamous “water gong,” where the percussionist submerges a Chinese gong in water to alter and manipulate its pitch. Also featured in this work is Cage’s famous “Prepared-Piano,” an instrument created by taking a classical grand piano and adding nuts, bolts, washers, rubber, and other objects to the piano strings and sound-board. The effect creates an instrument that sounds more like an electronic synthesizer than an acoustic piano, and the effect is both stunning and surprising.

 Also on the program will be a beautiful soundscape by Cage’s contemporary, Lou Harrison, entitled Canticle # 3. It features the addition of flute and guitar to the percussion ensemble, and also features many “found objects” used as percussion instruments, as well as exotic percussion instruments such as Nigerian log drums, Indian elephant bells, sistrums, anvils, and a cajon.

Rounding out the Percussion Ensemble set will be a performance by the HSU Marimba Band of folkloric music from Guatamala, Mexico, and Africa.

 The HSU World Percussion Group will be presenting, "Takada", a traditional Ghanaian piece celebrating a woman's right to drum, and "Lucumî", an Afro-Cuban suite of rhythms and songs of Yoruba origin, originally from Nigeria. The show will end with a West African Drumming Ensemble, led by HSU student teacher, Joe Bishop. This group will be performing a suite of traditional Mandeng Drumming from West Africa using all indigenous instruments, featuring driving rhythms and a dynamic rhythmic interplay.

--Eugene Novotney

Calypso Band & Percussion Ensemble

HSU Calypso Band’s high-energy Caribbean dance music and a Percussion Ensemble tribute to Led Zeppelin, plus drums of Africa, Hawaii and Mexico on Saturday May 1 at 8 pm in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.

Homage to Bonzo and Queen of the Bands

The HSU Percussion Ensemble pays tribute to a Hawaiian war god and a god of rock drumming, and two smaller percussion groups play ragtime, Mexican, West African and Brazilian tunes. Then the HSU Calypso Band takes over with its high-energy Caribbean and African dance music. This often-anticipated annual spring concert takes the Van Duzer Theatre stage on Saturday night, May 1.

An ode to rock drumming, especially of Led Zeppelin’s John “Bonzo” Bonham, highlights the HSU Percussion Ensemble set. “The core theme is taken from two Led Zeppelin tunes,” said Percussion Ensemble director Howard Kaufman, “but there are also references to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Bo Diddley.”

“Bonham” is by Christopher Rouse, who also composed the Ensemble’s second featured work, “Ku-Ka-llimoku.” Kaufman describes it as “a savage, propulsive war dance,” in honor of the Hawaiian god Ku.

The Ensemble also plays “Head Talk” by Mark Ford and “Alone and Together,” a piece by HSU Music professor Eugene Novotney, inspired by tap dancing and East Indian music.

Then the HSU Marimba Band performs two ragtime pieces, as well as folkloric music of Mexico. The HSU World Percussion Group ends the concert’s first half with traditional Mandeng Drumming of West Africa, and a Brazilian samba, which features 45 drummers, singers and dancers.

The famed Humboldt State Calypso Band takes over for the second half of the evening, featuring the classic composition by Ray Holman, “Queen of the Bands,” and other dance tunes with rhythms from the Caribbean and Africa. This event is a now traditional pre-finals fling for HSU students, and the Calypso band’s only Van Duzer appearance until winter.

The annual spring performance by the Humboldt Calypso Band and HSU percussion groups happens on Saturday May 1 at 8 pm in the Van Duzer Theatre Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. First 50 HSU students free with ID.

Media: Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now, Humboldt Beacon

Get Ionized with the HSU Calypso Band and Percussion Ensemble

Recently returned from performances at the Northwest Percussion Festival in Oregon, the HSU Percussion Ensemble, HSU World Percussion Group, and the Humboldt State Calypso Band present their combined spring concert on May 2 in the Van Duzer Theatre.

The Percussion Ensemble performs “Ionisation” by 20th century modern experimental composer Edgard Varese. “Ionisation is widely considered the most important composition in the entire percussion ensemble repertoire,” said director Dr. Eugene Novotney. It calls for an array of instruments and sounds, including maracas, guiros, cow bells, bongos, sleigh bells, castanets, a glockenspiel, a lion’s roar, two anvils, and two hand- crank sirens. The Ensemble uses the exact low-pitch fire siren Varese specified in his 1931 score, and an authentic high-pitch combat field siren.

Also during the first half of the combined concert, the HSU Marimba Band plays the folkloric marimba music of Mexico, Guatamala and Africa, and the HSU World Percussion Group conducted by Howard Kaufman performs the folkloric music of Cuba, ending with an exciting rendition of the famous carnival music, Conga de Comparsa.

As always, the second half of the concert belongs to the Humboldt State Calypso Band, one of Humboldt County’s most popular ensembles. The band is dedicated to the performance of traditional and contemporary music from the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Cuba and the United States, and always includes high-energy dance music.

The combined spring concert of the HSU Percussion Ensemble, World Percussion Group and Calypso Band happens on Saturday, May 2 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. First 50 HSU students free with ID. Directed by Dr. Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman; presented by the HSU Department of Music.

Media: Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now.

Director's Notes

As the centerpiece of this concert, the Humboldt State Percussion Ensemble will be performing an extremely revolutionary work by Edgard Varese entitled Ionization. Written in 1931, Ionisation features 14 performers playing over 47 different instruments. The sound mass and texture fields heard in the piece are both colorful and dense.

As well as a grand piano and all of the standard instruments of the percussion family, Varese also calls for Afro-Cuban instruments such, and exotic instruments such as gongs, sleighbells, castagnetts, a glockenspiel, a lions roar, two anvils, and, perhaps the most unique of all, two hand crank sirens. The low-pitched siren used by the Humboldt State Percussion Ensemble is the exact Sterling type II hand crank fire siren that Varese specified in his 1931 score. The high-pitched siren is an authentic combat field siren issued by the US military and made by the Federal Electric Company in Chicago, Illinois.

Often considered a radical futurist, Varese claims that he was interested in sound for sounds sake alone, and for that reason, considered all sounds as valid. As early as the 1930s, Varese heard the sound of the siren as a result of the modern world, and as such, he used it as a musical instrument in his composition. Many scholars have noted that Varese's ideas and experiments with sound, which predated the invention of the first synthesizer by almost 40 years, had an extensive effect on the development of electronic music. This is certain to be a memorable performance that should not be missed!

Also featured on the first half of the concert, the HSU Marimba Band will present the folkloric marimba music of Mexico, Guatamala, and Africa, and the HSU World Percussion Group will present the folkloric music of Cuba, ending with an exciting rendition of the famous Cuban carnival music, Conga de Comparsa.

The second half of the show will feature the festive dance music of the Humboldt State Calypso Band. One of Humboldt County's favorite ensembles, the Calypso Band will feature several high-energy dance compositions from the Caribbean in their set.

The Humboldt State Calypso Band prides itself in maintaining an accurate and authentic connection to the roots of the steel band movement and the innovative musicians of Trinidad, the island on which this unique percussion phenomenon was born. The band is dedicated to the performance of traditional and contemporary music from the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Cuba and the United States.

In addition to its regular performances at Humboldt State and throughout Northern California, the band has undertaken tours to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Oakland, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Seattle, WA, and has just returned from a standing ovation performance at the Northwest Percussion Festival held at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.

HSU Percussion and Calypso Band

Cross Currents: HSU Percussion Ensemble, World Percussion Group and Calypso Band weave rhythms from around the world on Saturday, December 6 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. First 50 HSU students Free with ID. Directed by Eugene Novotney; an HSU Music Department production.

click photo to enlarge

Cross Currents of Rhythm with HSU Percussion Groups

Three HSU percussion groups—the Percussion Ensemble, World Percussion Group and the Calypso Band-- bring cross-currents of world rhythms to the Van Duzer Theatre on Saturday, December 6.

The Percussion Ensemble, directed by Dr. Eugene Novotney, presents “Cross Currents,” a major work for percussion orchestra by Lynn Glassock. “It calls for a massive group of percussionists playing on four marimbas, two vibraphones, chimes, glockenspiel, five timpani, and a collection of over 35 drums, cymbals, and hand percussion instruments,” Dr. Novotney said.

The Ensemble’s featured classical work is “Second Construction” by John Cage. Novotney describes it as “highly experimental,” featuring exotic instruments such as Balinese gongs, Indian oxen bells, African pod-rattles, and Chinese temple bells. It also includes Cage’s patented “prepared piano”—which augments the classical grand with nuts, bolts, washers and other objects placed on the piano strings. “It sounds more like an electronic synthesizer than an acoustic piano,” Novotney observed. “The effect is stunning and surprising.”

The World Percussion Group, directed by Howard Kaufman, completes the first half of the program with traditional Anlo-Ewe dance drumming from Ghana in West Africa. Dancers from the HSU dance studio, led by HSU Theatre, Film and Dance faculty member Deborah Ketelsen, will perform traditional dances of the Anlo-Ewe people.

As usual, the second half of the evening is devoted to the high-energy dance rhythms of the Humboldt State Calypso Band. For this concert the emphasis is on traditional Calypso music of Trinidad and Tabago. “The band prides itself in maintaining an accurate and authentic connection to the roots of the steel band movement, and to the innovative musicians of Trinidad, where this unique percussion phenomenon was born,” Novotney said. A fixture at North Coast outdoor celebrations, the Calypso Band has performed in San Francisco, Long Angeles and Seattle.

The HSU Percussion Ensemble, World Percussion Group and Calypso Band perform on Saturday, December 6 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. First 50 HSU students Free with ID.

Media: Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now.