Posts Tagged: percussion

A Very Special Christmas Concert

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Soloists in Haydn's Toy Symphony (Garry is the “Little” Drummer Boy) with Maestra Kathleen Beckmann - Photo by Guy Peifer

My day job is making Woodstock Chimes but at night I come out to play. I recently had the privilege once again to play timpani with the Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra and the local Mendelssohn Club Men’s Chorus. We were joined by student guest performers from the Anderson Center for Autism. The Anderson Center students… Read more »

Bob Becker honoured as a Musical America “Mover and Shaper”

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CONGRATULATIONS to Bob Becker who has been named as one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of the Year. Musical America says, “As a composer, arranger, and founding member of the NEXUS percussion ensemble, Bob Becker has influenced virtually every aspect of percussion performance and repertoire in the profession. And he is renowned as a… Read more »

More honours: Bill and Ruth Cahn for music education

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May was certainly a month of honours for NEXUS members!  Bill and Ruth Cahn were both recognized by the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra at their final concert of the season on May 14th at Roberts Wesleyan College near Rochester, NY. Bill is a founding member of NEXUS and apart from his many astonishing performing accomplishments… Read more »

NEXUS reactions!

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One of my favorite tasks is sitting down each year and updating our list of awesome reactions to NEXUS. We love receiving your comments, whether online, by email, or in a review, and we thank you for loving what we do!  Here’s the update to our “Reactions” list:

NEXUS in Potsdam

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In 1974, I performed with the Blackearth Percussion Group at thethe State University of New York at Potsdam. The instructor in charge was, yes, Jim Petercsak. Professor Petercsak is a legend in the percussion world whose teaching has produced hundreds of fine musicians currently performing and teaching throughout the world. The NEXUS concert consisted of… Read more »

Coming Up! Texas and New York!

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The NEXUS members never sit still. Even a winter “respite” has taken Russell to the Sacher music archive and its Steve Reich Collection in Basel, Switzerland; Bob’s heading out on U.S. tour dates; Garry is heading to warmer climes to the south. Bill and Ray are hardier types enjoying brisk temperatures and a multitude of… Read more »

The (Art?) of Hanging Gongs

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Further to emailed inquiries on the subjects of percussion performance and instruments, one recent inquiry was seeking advice about support structures for gongs. This topic is right up my alley. I’ve always had a fascination with pitched gongs and unpitched tam-tams, probably inspired by John Wyre, a colleague in NEXUS until his passing in 2006…. Read more »

“On the Road Again” with NEXUS

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NEXUS has always been a groundbreaking ensemble and Saturday night, June 4th was no exception. We had the honor of being the first percussion group to play at the 35-year-old Rockport Chamber Music Festival in the spectacular Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, Massachusetts. One feels like a 3-D component of a Norman Rockwell painting… Read more »

My TEDx Talk

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On April 9, I had the tremendous pleasure of speaking to an audience of 800 attendees of the TEDx Makers conference at Monmouth University in New Jersey. It was an honor to be among 30 “Makers” chosen to talk about what we had created. In my case, I talked about the quest to hear ancient… Read more »

History of NEXUS Performances – 1968 to 2018

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To see a complete listing of performances by NEXUS from 1968 to 2018 – including dates, venues, programs –  click on the links below: History of NEXUS 1968-1989 History of NEXUS 1990-1998 History of NEXUS 1999-2018    

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