BRATTLEBORO-The UMass Percussion Ensemble returns to the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) Sunday, April 12, at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance ($10 general admission, free for BMAC members) at brattleboromuseum.org, at the door (subject to availability), or by calling 802-257-0124, ext. 101.
Led by percussionist Ayano Kataoka, the UMass Percussion Ensemble is made up of graduate and undergraduate percussion students at University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
For their performance in Brattleboro, Daniel Burroughs, Morgan Corey, Alex Hawryluk, Maggie Maloney, Alexa Odoy, Tom Pittman, Will Pooser, Viraj Sonawala, Eunice Sun, and Reuven Wolfe, joined by flutist Lily Fuller, will perform works by Andy Akiho, J.S. Bach, John Cage, Thierry de Mey, Etienne Houben, Mark Mellits, and Minoru Miki in BMAC’s Wolf Kahn & Emily Mason Gallery.
“I am especially excited to see Thierry de Mey’s Musique de Tables, which the composer has described as ‘a choreography of hands,’” said BMAC Director Danny Lichtenfeld in a news release. “Three percussionists each have a small table as their only instrument. A variety of tones and visual effects is achieved by the physical gestures the performers use to strike the tables.”
Kataoka is a percussionist and marimbist. A leading proponent of contemporary composition, Kataoka has participated in several consortiums to commission works for solo marimba or chamber ensembles.
She was the first percussionist to be chosen for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program (formerly Chamber Music Society Two), a high-profile residency for emerging artists. Kataoka is currently a professor at UMass Amherst.
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