The tenth anniversary session of the Bob Becker Ragtime Xylophone Institute was held from August 2 through 7, 2010 at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE. This year’s participants, left to right in the photo, were: Mike Correa, Paul Bernard, Dwayne Corbin, Chris Hogan, Ryan Lewis, Bob, Harvey Price, Julia Ross, Mike Franklin, Sam… Read more »
Monday evening (December 13, 2010) I attended a solo recital titled, “Touch-ing” at the Showa Academy Recital Hall. It was a performance by Hideki Ikegami, a terrific marimbist and percussionist with piano accompaniment by Kanna Shibata. Hideki is about 30-years-old and was a student of Atsushi Sugahara, who was also in the audience. (Sugahara studied… Read more »
As I write this, I’m listening to “The Messiah” being discussed on Japanese television while it’s performed by a Japanese chorus, Japanese vocal soloists, and Japanese musicians playing on period instruments, including timpani (with wooden mallets) that are very much like the hand-tuned drums I saw earlier today (more about the hand-tuned timps in a… Read more »
It’s Saturday and the first week of my residency at Showa is coming to an end. On this visit I have definitely noticed a higher level of performance, both in the private lessons and in the ensemble rehearsals and concerts. There have been 19 private lessons, most with a focus on solo multi-perc pieces, but… Read more »
I’m in Japan again for the third time in 2010 for my 2-week teaching residency at the Showa Academy of Music. I finally arrived at my hotel room in Kawasaki at 5:30 AM Rochester time – exactly 25-1/2-hours after waking up at home. The flights from Rochester and JFK were smooth and uneventful. This… Read more »
The Short List for the 2010 Atlantis Music Prize has just been announced and it reminded me that the 2009 winner was a percussionist. The Atlantis Music Prize is awarded to the best full-length album from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, “judged on artistic merit, without regard to genre or sales”. Percussionist/composer Curtis… Read more »
December is glowing: Hanukah candles, Christmas trees, Kwanzaa lights, Solstice and New Year preparations. Gifts and music are a major part of the celebrations and it has me thinking about the gifted artists in NEXUS and their offerings, ranging from choral to kids.
The following interview with Bob Becker took place on July 30, 1996. This is the first time it has been published. Bill Cahn: Do you see any “sea changes” happening now and if so what would you say they are and what are their characteristics?
The following interview with Russell Hartenberger took place in two sessions: first in Toronto in August, 1996 and the second in Ottawa on January 10, 1998. This is the first time it has been published. Bill Cahn: Let’s begin by addressing the issue of art being in service to something – in other words, art… Read more »
We had a query from the UK today, asking if NEXUS has any plans for a performance trip to Europe. I was delighted to be able to tell him Yes, NEXUS is planning a trip overseas in October 2011. It is too early for these plans to appear on our Upcoming Events list, but as… Read more »
Following our blog post about Michael Craden‘s cover art on the NEXUS recording Garden of Sounds (with Richard Stoltzman), we heard from Nick Moreau at the Art Gallery of Peel here in Canada in downtown Brampton, Ontario. The Art Gallery has a Michael Craden work in its permanent collection.
For the fifth time since May 2010, I made the 5-hour drive from my house to Garry Kvistad’s home to perform in the Woodstock, NY area – this time with NEXUS in the Quimby Theater at the State University of New York in Ulster County. The concert by NEXUS on November 20 was be the… Read more »
Almost exactly 21 years ago, on November 13, 1989, NEXUS performed at the the “NEXUS Now” CD. Also on the WNYC broadcast is Wendy Mae Chambers’ “Night of the Shooting Stars,” (a tone poem for 16 percussionists inspired by The Leonids meteor shower), that features Jack-in-the Boxes, key chains, conch shells, sleigh bells, and slide… Read more »
NEXUS will be performing on Saturday, November 20th at 8 p.m. in Stone Ridge, New York, about 90 minutes north of New York City. With this fantastic autumn weather we have been having, you could enjoy an afternoon hike in the nearby Catskills Park, perhaps at wonderfully-named Peekamoose or Buttermilk Falls
This blog posting starts in the 20th century – 1959 to be exact. That was the year I entered the 8th grade and had my first drum lesson with a real drum teacher. His name was Joseph Huttlin, and he came from a family lineage of rudimental drummers. He visited my school for one afternoon… Read more »
