Graduate Student Percussion Concert

Graduate Student Percussion Concert

Photo of Ellis Hampton
Ellis Hampton

Featured performer Ellis Hampton will be the marimba soloist for "Uneven Souls" by Balkan composer Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic. Hampton, a graduate student in the UK School of Music, is featured in this tour de force work that contains odd meters, uneven grooves, and haunting modal melodies from the Southern Slavic region of the Balkans.

Photo of the mbira, a 24 key thumb piano
The mbira, a 24 key thumb piano

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 1, 2004) -- The University of Kentucky Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of music professor James Campbell, will present a spring concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 4, in the Concert Hall at the UK Singletary Center for the Arts. The concert will highlight four graduate students in the percussion studies program in works from four different continents. The concert is free and open to the public.

The concert also includes a premiere performance of a new composition from graduate student Michael Aukofer. "Identity Crisis" features seven percussionists in an eclectic work that draws its inspiration from three contrasting sources, including the famous bandleader Spike Jones.

Robbie Parks, a doctoral student, performs the traditional African song "Mahororo" on the mbira, a 24 key thumb piano. The mbira is the primary traditional instrument of the Zezuru tribes of the Shona people and has been played for over 1,000 years at religious rituals, royal courts, and social occasions.

The closing pieces on the concert celebrate the fete known around the world as "carnival" with a performance by the UK Brazilian Ensemble, which was founded and directed by graduate student Julie Hill. For further information, contact the UK Percussion Studio at (859) 257-8187.