I decided to finish my graduating recital surrounded by my friends in the QCGU percussion department. Inspired by my chorale for harmonic whirlies, ‘The Angels are Coming’, I wrote a chorale for 12 players. I’ve gone through a fantastic journey surrounded great people and I thought it’d only be fitting to work with my friends from the percussion department to symbolise that journey. This was the last piece of the recital,
Performance
Eight On 3 And Nine On 2 – Graduating Recital 2015
Eight on 3 and Nine on 2 by George Clements and Robert Marino is a multi percussion duet. The piece combines drum corps elements into a challenging formal recital piece for any percussionist. Two players perform the piece facing each other, sharing instruments just as they share in playing almost every rhythm in the piece. The listener is engaged aurally and visually as both performers sound like one in an exciting and captivating percussive showcase.
I've wanted to play this piece for so
More Marimba Dances – Graduating Recital 2015
Continuing the challenge of playing Ross Edwards' pieces, I decided to also play 'More Marimba Dances' by the Australian composer. Dancers Grace Miel and Juwai Pitkin joined me for this set of dances as well.
This set of marimba dances is similar to the first in terms of tonality and ideas though it still manages to clearly set itself apart. I loved working on the first movement because of an image my teacher, Vanessa Tomlinson, suggested. She created an image of two birds communicating
Rhythm Magic – Graduating Recital 2015
Rhythm Magic is a rudimental-style snare drum solo written by Australian master drummer and percussionist David Jones. It features many interesting sticking patterns and rhythmic groupings and my mate Lachlan Hawkins and I arranged it last year for his honours recital.
What we have done is expanded the solo, playing the piece three times – each time with some changes:
First time
Is played as written. I mirrored Locky’s stickings and some movements as well. We both learnt percussion
Marimba Dances – Graduating Recital 2015
Marimba Dances, by Ross Edwards was my audition piece into the conservatorium. I played the first movement of the piece for my audition and only realised through the years that not only was there more to Marimba Dances, there was also ‘More Marimba Dances’ by Ross Edwards.
In one of my lessons with my teacher, Vanessa Tomlinson, she brought forward the idea of imagining a story for each section of the piece. We thought of birds straight away and I began thinking of incorporating the imagery
Spankinhide – Graduating Recital 2015
So the time has come to finally share my graduating recital! It was an exhilarating experience to play some music that I have been waiting to perform for years and to share the stage with my dad, my best friends Lachlan Hawkins and Jamee Seeto, my brothers from Spankinhide, Elliott Orr and Piers Langford, choreographers and dancers Grace Miel and Juwai Pitikin and finally the whole Queensland Conservatorium Percussion department. I chose to present a concert showcasing my musical journey from
Spankinhide African Drumming – Semester 1 Recital 2015
The debut of Spankinhide in my time at the Conservatorium! I decided to bring Elliott and Piers, my bandmates from Spankinhide, to play some African drumming in my recital and share a part of my musical background. The great thing about being in my final year at uni was being able to choose what I wanted to play and to play some unconventional things.
It was an out of the ordinary experience as well, because I’d never led any pieces in Spankinhide. I was always playing accompaniment parts
Marimba Phase – Semester 1 Recital 2015
I find that the greatest thing about recitals is, the closer I get to the end of my degree the more freedom I have to perform music that I enjoy listening to and that I’m interested in. A great example of this in my Semester 1 Recital 2015 was Marimba Phase by Steve Reich.
It can be hard sometimes to create interest and musicality in studies and etudes, most times because they’re not written as “music” but more as technical exercises that are designed to mess with your brain and challenge a
‘Marimbics’ Marimba Solo – Semester 1 Recital 2015
MARIMBICS by Markus Halt is a four-mallet marimba solo that I have interpreted as the ‘Marimba Olympics’. Each section of the piece challenges the performer to play with different technique and cope with changing ‘tonal worlds’. It is a trip down the rabbit hole involving high technical demand and quirky musical ideas.
This was definitely one of the most challenging marimba solos I had played up until this point in uni, in my recital and just in general. The process of choosing
Suomineito – Vibraphone solo – Semester 1 Recital 2015
Suomineito is a four-mallet vibraphone solo written by Nebojša Jovan Živković. Suomineito in Finnish, in the language of the "Suomi" people (as the Finns calls themselves) means "Finnish girl". This quiet and melancholic composition was inspired by an original folk song from Finland, called "Heili Karjalasta". In Suomi, this means "a friend from Karelia", a region that used to be a part of Finland.
This is a heart wrenching piece and I loved playing it because of the music and the challenge.
