Blog

Visitors from Japan – September 17 to 23, 2009

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I first met Kazunori Meguro in Okinawa, Japan in October 1997.  He was performing with his Tokyo-based percussion ensemble at a drum festival, to which NEXUS had also been invited.  As a result of that meeting, I was invited in 1998 to guest teach for two weeks at the Showa Academy in Japan, where Kazunori… Read more »

Looking into Russell’s West African Workshop

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Russell Hartenberger presents a hands-on West African Drumming Workshop in which participants play drum ensemble music from the Ewe, Akan and Dagomba people of Ghana. Polyrhythms, call and response, talking drums, all fascinate Russell and he enjoys sharing that fascination with workshop participants. Russell has explored these elements in his own composition The Invisible Proverb,… Read more »

Hear NEXUS with Orchestra in Windsor/Detroit

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On the evening of October 3rd, if you are within driving distance of the sister cities of Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, you have a great opportunity to hear NEXUS perform with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra.

Performing Live with MIDI (a lecture/demonstration)

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In his clinic Performing Live with MIDI, Bill Cahn takes a close look at the possibilities for musical expression offered by MIDI and, in the process, simplifies what can appear to be a very complicated subject. The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) was introduced in 1982 and in the past 25 years has revolutionized music…. Read more »

Erich Kunzel Remembered

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I was saddened to hear that Erich Kunzel passed away at his home in Swan’s Island, Maine this past Tuesday, September 1.  He was 74.  Kunzel was known to symphony audiences throughout the U.S. and Canada for decades as a the Pops Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, with which he made many recordings. He also… Read more »

Ninth Annual Ragtime Xylophone Institute, 2009

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This year (2009) the Bob Becker Ragtime Xylophone Institute was held from July 27 through August 1. It was our ninth year for this annual event held at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE. The participants, pictured in the photo (left to right) were: Bob, Warren Dewey, Valerie Vassar, Zachary Nandapurkar, Harvey Price, Doug… Read more »

A Day of Fortified History – August 19, 2009

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Since the 1970s Ruth and I have occasionally vacationed in the Adirondack region of New York State.  The area is rich in the history of the eighteenth-century conflicts between the French and English for dominance in North America. Last summer (in August 2008) we spent a week with our kayaks at a cottage in Chazy,… Read more »

John Wyre, Norland, Niagara and Quidditch

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I’ve been reading “Touched by Sound” by John Wyre,  a founding member of NEXUS until his retirement in 2002 when he moved to St John’s, Newfoundland. I knew John for many years, as I worked with NEXUS in the 1980s and helped produce his tremendous World Drums festivals. And I had the great opportunity of… Read more »

Queen Anne’s Lace – August 13, 2009

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This blog posting has nothing to do with music. They say that it’s good, every once in a while, to stop and order female viagra online / mexico care pharmacy / buy real viagra with echeck / http://www.lampart.info.pl/emgr/prednisone-online-no/ / http://bezpaniki.art.pl/yqv/genuine-viagra/ smell the roses. I didn’t do that today, but I did stop and look at… Read more »

International Belgian Percussion Festival, 2009

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From July 7 through 10, 2009 I was a featured clinician and soloist for the First International Belgian Percussion Festival, held in Hasselt, Belgium. This was a very ambitious event, with a large international faculty. Besides myself, other clinicians included Marinus Komst, solo timpanist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; David Searcy, principal timpanist with the… Read more »

Chautauqua Revisited – August 3 to 6, 2009

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Except for quick hit-and-run trip to Chautauqua last summer (2008) to hear Michael Burritt perform his marimba concerto with the Chautauqua Symphony, it has been several decades since my last visit. In the 1970s Ruth was in the orchestra’s percussion section and I would occasionally play if an extra percussionist was needed. For years, we… Read more »

On Wings of Song

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I have been composing music since I was in high school.  One of my high school music theory teachers encouraged me to compose a few short pieces for the senior chorus, and it was fun to get the positive responses from teachers and fellow students after the performances.   I also had fun in Alan… Read more »

Roots and Rhizomes at the Banff Centre

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During June 13 through 22, 2009 I took part in the Roots and Rhizomes residency organized by Steven Schick and held at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada. Banff is located in the heart of the Canadian rockies, and must be one of the most spectacular locations in the world for this… Read more »

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