SOU Percussion Ensembles present "Sonic Portraits" - Tuesday, June 5, 7:30 PM

NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release:             For further information contact:

Thursday, May 23^rd, 2012           Colleen Graves

                                                gravesc@sou.edu

                                                541.552.6101

The SOU Percussion Ensembles, directed by Dr. Terry Longshore

present

“Sonic Portraits”

featuring percussion trio Compás and cello soloist Chas Barnard

(Ashland, Ore.) – The widely acclaimed Southern Oregon University (SOU) Percussion Ensembles present “Sonic Portraits”, a concert of works featuring music that is influenced and inspired by a wide gamut of the world’s music - classical, jazz, rock and the music of Africa, India, and Latin America.  The performance will take place in the SOU Music Recital Hall, 450 Mountain Ave., in Ashland on Tuesday, June 5 at 7:30 PM. 

The concert will open with “Amoxoxo/Rainforest”, a pair of Zimbabwe-style marimba compositions by Alport Mhlanga and Michael Breez performed by 8 players on 4 marimbas and accompanied by the traditional shakers of Zimbabwe called hosho.  These exciting and joyful pieces with their beautiful, interlocking melodies will be led by SOU Percussion Ensemble alumnus Lindsay Campbell, who taught the pieces to the ensemble.

Cello soloist Chas Barnard will be featured on Erik Griswold’s “a leaf falls” for percussion quartet and cello.  The title “a leaf falls” is taken from the e.e. cummings poem with the first line “I(a”:

l(a

le

af

fa

ll

s)

one

l

iness

--e.e.cummings

If one reads everything between the parentheses, one reads "a leaf falls."  The rest spells "oneliness."  Adding the beginning "l" to the "oneliness” (excluding the material in parentheses) produces "loneliness."  Griswold writes about his composition, “Though I’ve never really lived in a place with an autumn, I nevertheless feel a sense of nostalgia for the coming of autumn, the leaves turning bright oranges and reds, and is it a sense of emptiness when the leaves fall?  I enjoy raking the leaves in my backyard; it’s a kind of meditation.  And who doesn’t love jumping into a pile of leaves?”  This five-movement work evokes the sounds of rain, wind, leaves rustling, and swirling textures indicative of the season implied by the title.

SOU cellist Chas Barnard has joined the musical ranks as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. At seventeen years of age, he made both his professional orchestral solo debut with Martin Majkut and the Rogue Valley Symphony and his solo debut at Carnegie Hall in a Winner’s Recital as a first-place winner in the American Protégé International Concerto Competition.  Chas is also the winner of the 2011 Marrowstone Music Festival Concerto Competition, the 2010 American String Teachers Oregon Solo Music Competition, and the 2010 OSAA Solo Music Competition. A member of the Rogue Valley Symphony since age fourteen, Chas has served as principal cellist at the Marrowstone Music Festival, the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific in British Columbia and the Oregon All-State Orchestra, as well as playing in the section of the All-Northwest Orchestra, and the World Youth Symphony Orchestra of Interlochen.

An avid chamber musician, Chas, as a member of the Schoenard Trio, was named Artists-in-Residence in 2011 for the Britt Festival. In addition to numerous performances throughout Oregon, the Schoenard Trio placed as semi-finalists in the junior division of the prestigious Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2011.  Chas studies cello with Ashland resident Thomas Stauffer, Professor Emeritus of San Diego State University.

Other works featured on the concert:

Nagoya Marimbas by Steve Reich for marimba duo

3 and 4 performed by the Reso-Nation Percussion Quartet and composed by quartet member Daniel Freiberg

More Like Chutney by Randy Gloss, performed by the Reso-Nation Percussion Quartet - a melody performed on jala tarang (rice bowls tuned with water) accompanied by hand drums

Conga Tarang by J.B. Smith, performed by percussion trio Compás, featuring Terry Longshore, Bryan Jeffs, and Jacob Phelps-Ransom.  6 conga drums are arranged in a triangle, each performer playing three drums - one that only he plays and the other two shared with the other players.  Each player also has a foot-operated cowbell, wood block, or bass drum.  Complex, interlocking rhythms and melodies create an intricately exciting texture evocative of the music of Latin America.

The concert will close with “Like Be-Bop” by John Bergamo, a favorite composer of the ensemble and audiences, and is sure to leave the audience smiling.  Performed by 11 players using xylophone, vibraphones, marimbas, bass marimba, 2 drum sets, junk percussion, and electric bass, “Like Be-Bop” is written in a Zappa-esque style that pits the two drum set players against each other, one playing in a straight eighth-note rock style, while the other plays in a swing, jazz feel.  The ensemble goes and back and forth between these two feels, and gets pulled in either direction throughout the piece.

Tickets for this concert are $5 general admission and free for students.  Tickets and season passes may be purchased or reserved by calling 541-552-6101, in person in the Music Office Monday through Friday, or at the Music Box Office one hour prior to the performance.  For more information, please visit Southern Oregon University’s Department website at www.sou.edu/music.

-SOU-

Triptychs: sound+image - Saturday, June 2

Triptychs: sound+image

Saturday, June 2, 8pm

The DanceSpace Ashland

The First Saturday concert series, Triptychs: Sound+Image continues June 2, 8pm at the DanceSpace. This six-concert series is presented by Todd Barton and Bruce Bayard, with a featured guest artist each month. Terry Longshore, percussion and electronics, completes the trio for this month's performance. The DanceSpace is located at 280 East Hersey Street in Ashland. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at babayard.com/triptychs or at the door.

The music is improvised electronic soundscapes, with a visual presentation of Bayard's digital image series, The Weekly Press. Each month, the visual landscape changes to present new concepts and moods.

Todd Barton is the Resident Composer for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He also teaches Composition and Electronic Music at the Music Department at Southern Oregon University. His compositions have been performed by the KRONOS Quartet, Oregon Symphony Orchestra, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Southern Oregon Repertory Singers, the Shasta Taiko, and the Rogue Valley Symphony to name a few.

Bruce Bayard is a self-taught visual artist. He has presented solo exhibits throughout the West Coast, and is collected internationally. He was producer of the It's About Dance festivals at the Craterian Theater, and served as a founding commissioner of Ashland's Public Arts Commission.

Terry Longshore is active as a performer, composer, and educator of percussion and has performed internationally and throughout the United States. He performs regularly as a soloist and with several ensembles. He has taught at several universities and currently serves as Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at Southern Oregon University. Longshore is a Yamaha Performing Artist and an artist endorser for Remo drumheads, Vic Firth sticks & mallets, and Zildjian cymbals.

Sol Flamenco @ SOU Monday, May 7!

NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release:               For further information contact:

Friday, April 06, 2012                   Colleen Graves

gravesc@sou.edu

541.552.6102

The SOU Department of Performing Arts

presents

“Fiesta Flamenca: The Music and Dance of Spain”

Presented by

San Diego based dance troupe Sol Flamenco with Mark Taylor, guitar Grant Ruiz, guitar and Dr. Terry Longshore, percussion

(Ashland, Ore.) – The Department of Performing Arts at Southern Oregon University (SOU) presents Sol Flamenco Dance & Music Troupe on Monday, May 7, 7:30pm, where the passion and fire of Spain hits the stage for one night only. An evening of lightning-fast footwork, haunting guitar rhythms, and soulful singing awaits you.  The concert will take place in the Music Recital Hall on Mountain Ave. at Southern Oregon University.  Admission is $10 general and free for students with I.D.

Featuring a cast of artists that have recently returned from Spain, Oregon welcomes dancers Liz Bortolotto and Joelle Gonçalves, plus flamenco guitarist Mark Taylor. The group has been working together for many years and it shows in the dancers’ precision footwork, vocals, the guitarist's bold accompaniment, and the company's strong stage presence. This year’s show also brings the return of special guest artists, percussionist Terry Longshore and guitarist Grant Ruiz.

A performer, teacher, and co-director of dance troupe Sol Flamenco, Joelle Gonçalves has performed throughout the West Coast with a variety of flamencocompanies including Aire Flamenco, Los Cuatro Vientos, Flamenco Puro, FlamencoArts, and was a featured soloist in Yaelisa's Noche de Amor.  Joelle's attraction to the art of flamenco began over a decade ago while she was earning her degree in Art History. It was the combination of passionate singing, fiery dancing and haunting guitar rhythms that completely enthralled her and led her to Seville, Spain, where she began her professional dance training with Maestro José Galván. Joelle has studied with such notable flamenco artists as Joaquin Ruiz, Concha Vargas, Angel Muñoz, and Antonio Granjeros. She travels to Spain annually to study with Manuel Betan.

Liz Bortolotto began her life as a flamenco dancer in 1999. Since then, she has danced professionally with Sol Flamenco, Mark Taylor Flamenco, Flamenco Arts, andLos Cuatro Vientos. Liz trained primarily with Jose Galvan of Seville, Spain and local artists Yaelisa (Emmy winning choreographer and dancer), Carola Zertuche, and Elaine Marlow. She has also studied with traveling artists such as Antonio Granjeros, Belen Maya, Pastora Galvan and Joaquin Ruiz. She recently returned from Spain where she studied with world famous Flamenco dance teacher, Manuel Betanzos.

Classical and Flamenco guitarist Mark Taylor is an international recording artist and performer. His combined experience in classical and flamenco music make him a strong and dynamic interpreter of the classical repertoire with an approach toflamenco that is rhythmically vibrant, passionate and true to the essence of the many styles he performs.

Mark was already a professional classical guitarist when he first began traveling to Spain in 1987. He studied flamenco guitar in Granada, Sevilla, Jerez de la Frontera, and Madrid. He returned to the United States to form the Aire Flamenco Dance Company & The Mark Taylor Flamenco Quartet. He has performed as a soloist in Spain and the United States and appears regularly as featured artist with the SolFlamenco Dance Company and The San Francisco Bay area’s Potaje ensemble, directed by Chus Alonso. He has also collaborated with Francisco Gaona’s stage productions of Romanceros Gitanos, Cante Jondo and Cantares by Federico García Lorca.

Radio and television credits include interviews by Jose Maria Velasquez on Spanish National Radio in Madrid and Michael Krazny’s Forum on KQED Public Radio in San Francisco. Mark’s music is featured on television on the Discovery Channel programBizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, “Spain” and “Morocco” episodes.  Pierce Carson in The Napa Valley Register called Mark Taylor “The Bay Area’s Best flamencoguitarist…Taylor has a feel for the music’s innate sensuality.”

If you would like more information or to schedule a phone interview with Joelle Gonçalves, Artistic Director, or Mark Taylor, please call Joelle Gonçalves at (707) 573-8450 or e-mail Joelle at solflamenco@gmail.com. Visit www.SolFlamenco.comfor more information, or to hear the music of Mark Taylor, visitwww.marktaylorflamenco.com.

Tickets for this performance are $10 for general admission and free for students.  Tickets may be purchased by calling 541-552-6101 or at the Music Box Office prior to the performance.  The SOU Music Recital Hall is located at 405 S. Mountain Ave. in Ashland.  For more information, please visit SOU’s Music website athttp://www.sou.edu/music 

-SOU-

SOU/Oregon PAS Day of Percussion

NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release:                For further information contact:

April 2, 2012                                  Colleen Graves

                                                     gravesc@sou.edu

  541.552.6102

Day of Percussion

(Ashland, Ore.) – Day of Percussion

        

Southern Oregon University Department of Performing Arts presents a Day of Percussion, Saturday, April 21, 9:00 AM through evening at the Music Building at SOU, hosted by Dr. Terry Longshore, Director of Percussion Studies at SOU, and Bryan Jeffs, Instructor of Percussion at SOU. The featured guest artists are legendary drummer and percussionist Alex Acuña, marimba artist Matthew Coley, taiko percussionist Kelvin Underwood, and drum circle facilitator Kerry “The Shakerman” Greene.  The event is co-sponsored by the Percussive Arts Society.

Events include a drum-set and percussion clinic with Acuña, a marimba/ percussion clinic with Coley, and a Japanese taiko drumming workshop with Underwood.  Kerry "The Shakerman" Greene will host a community drum circle.  There will be vendor displays and a raffle. Other featured performers will be the SOU Percussion Ensemble, percussion trio Compás, the Ashland High School Percussion Ensemble, and other student ensembles.  The 7:30 PM evening showcase concert will feature Alex Acuña, Matthew Coley, and Kelvin Underwood in concert along with the SOU Percusison Ensemble.

Born in Pativilca, Peru, 100 miles north of Lima, Alex Acuña was born into a musical family that inspired him and helped shape him as a musician. His father and five brothers were all musicians. Alex taught himself how to play the drums from the age of four. By the time Alex turned ten, he was already playing in local bands. As a teenager, he moved to Lima and became one of Peru's most accomplished session drummers, performing on many recording projects for artists, as well as film and television productions.

Alex is widely known as an educator, gifted teacher and clinician of drums and percussion. He has recorded four solo instructional videos and provides seminars at universities such as UC Los Angeles, Berklee School of Music in Boston and other top international schools of music. DW Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Gon Bops Percussion, Gibraltar, Vic Firth, Evans and Shure microphones all sponsor Alex. He is also credited with the design of Zildjian's "Azuka" line of cymbals, signature Vic Firth sticks and the caddy stick bag, the Alex Acuña signature line of congas, bongos, timbales, cajons, and bells from Gon Bops Percussion.

Matthew Coley performs regularly as a soloist throughout the US and Europe, and has performed with such entities as the Cedar Valley Chamber Music Festival, San Francisco Sinfonietta, Millennium Chamber Players, Moldavian Philharmonic and Tele-Radio Orchestras, and Kurpfalzisches Kammerorchester Mannheim. He has also been featured three times on Chicago’s WFMT Classical Radio Station and in a feature article in Time Out Chicago Magazine.

Matthew is currently professor of percussion at Iowa State University, and holds degrees from Northwestern University and the University of North Texas. He is endorsed by Marimba One, Innovative Percussion, and Sabian Cymbals, and published by Innovative Percussion and Edition Svitzer.;

Born in North Carolina, Kelvin Underwood’s musical journey began with a drum set and two understanding parents. At age 19, Kelvin was recruited by Tagayasu Den to join the world-famous taiko group, Ondekoza. As a member of Ondekoza he has performed in some of the worlds most prestigious stages including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. After touring internationally for four hears, Kelvin returned to the US to enroll at Berklee College of Music, where he graduated with a degree in Professional Music. He has collaborated with electronic-instrument-maker Sudhu Tewari to produce “Meidoko: Unearth” and has studied the Brazilian martial art Capoeira. Currently living in Ashland, Oregon, Kelvin teaches taiko and drum set and is an active solo artist.

Kerry the “Shakerman” Greene’s amazing rhythmical journey began in 1993 when inspired by the percussive mastery of percussionist George Jinda of “Special EFX”, Kerry “the Shakerman” then created Shakka Shakerz, now a popular percussion shaker. While visiting a drum shop, he witnessed a drum circle being facilitated by the amazing Arthur Hull.  Intrigued, Kerry began studying with Mr. Hull at the weeklong Drum Circle Facilitators workshop in Hawaii.  Known for his enthusiasm, patience and abilities, he leads individuals on a path of self-discovery using the drums, shakers and other percussion instruments as tools for unity and empowerment.

The Day of Percussion is also sponsored by SOU College of Arts & Sciences, SOU Division of Continuing Education, SOU Educational Activities Advisory Committee, SOU Percussion Club, The Percussive Arts Society, Gon-Bops Percussion, Drum Workshop, Evans Drumheads, Marimba One, Zildjian Cymbals, Sabian Cymbals, Vic Firth Drumsticks, D’Addario, Innovative Mallets, International Art & Sound, Yamaha Percussion, Remo Drumheads, and Plaza Inn & Suites at Ashland Creek.

Pre-registration cost is $25 general public, ($30 after April 16) for the full day including lunch and the evening concert; $10 for the concert only. Students receive free admission to the concert only with ID.  To register or purchase concert tickets call 541-552-6899 or look on the web: http://sou.edu/music/percussion/dayofpercussion.html

-SOU-

SOU Percussion Ensembles present "Living Sound"

NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release: For further information contact:
February 20, 2012   Colleen Graves
gravesc@sou.edu
541.552.6102

The Southern Oregon University Percussion Ensembles, directed by Dr. Terry Longshore, and the Southern Oregon Chapter of the National Association of Composers, USA present “Living Sound”, a concert of works by local composers.

(Ashland, Ore.) – The widely acclaimed Southern Oregon University Percussion Ensembles and the Southern Oregon Chapter of the National Association of Composers, USA present “Living Sound”, a concert of works by local composers.  The concert will also feature works by SOU music students and faculty.  The performance will take place in the SOU Music Recital Hall, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd., in Ashland on Tuesday, March 13 at 7:30 PM.  Admission to the concert is $5 general and free for students.

The SOU Percussion Ensemble and Compás have been praised throughout the northwest for their performances of contemporary percussion music that entertains, challenges, and excites listeners of all ages.  Composer William Kraft (former Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer-in-Residence, Associate Conductor, and Principal Timpanist) said of the ensemble, "I have never – repeat, never – been so pleased with performances of my works."

The concert will open with “M’Weya”, a traditional Zimbabwean marimba composition by Dumisani Maraire.  This exciting and joyful piece will be led by SOU Percussion Ensemble Alumnus Lindsay Campbell, who taught the piece to the ensemble.

Much of the evening’s music is composed by members of the Southern Oregon Chapter of the National Association of Composers, USA (NACUSA).  Founded by Henry Hadley in 1933, NACUSA is one of the oldest organizations devoted to the promotion and performance of American concert hall music. Many of America's most distinguished composers have been among its members. NACUSA presents several chamber concerts each year that feature music by its members.  The concert will feature the following works of NACUSA composers including three premiere performances:

• “nobody, not even the rain” by William Ashworth - for vibraphone duet (premiere)
• “Women’s Voices, Women’s Words” by I’lana Cotton - for percussion quartet and soprano, featuring SOU Music Student Beatriz Abella
• “Meditation” by Ken Deveney - for marimba duet (premiere)
• “Los Amores de Maria Bonita” by Theodore Dollarhide - for percussion octet (premiere)
• “Diversions & Interactions” by Greg Steinke - for percussion trio

Two student works will also be premiered on the concert -  “Helix”, co-composed by SOU Music Students Daniel Freiberg and Dan Machen and “The Living Loop”, a marimba quartet by Daniel Freiberg performed by percussion quartet “Reso-Nation.”

The concert will close with a premiere performance of a new large ensemble work by SOU Adjunct Instructor of Percussion (and SOU Alumnus), Bryan Jeffs.  The work, titled “A Maroon Hog’s Rebel Frog”, is a tribute to the music of composer John Bergamo, a favorite of the ensemble and audiences, and is sure to leave the audience smiling.  A reception will follow the concert in the Music Recital Hall foyer.