By Chinedum J. C. Emelumba—
Long brown broomsticks, orange glazed flowerpots, and a standard deck of cards: not the conventional items that spring to mind when one thinks about a music concert. However, these elements in their own right stole the show at the Percussion Ensemble Concert, which was held at New Jersey City University on November 16, 2012. The music department at NJCU is known for hosting several noteworthy concerts throughout the year, and even more so for the zealous students behind it all.
On a regular school day, any student walking past the Rossey Hall building on campus could hear the loud sounds of the collage of instruments booming from the windows. A lovely opera-like voice usually directly follows the mound of sounds. Needless to say, the faculty and students of the music department put on an innovative, nothing less than inspiring, performance at the Percussion Ensemble Concert that Friday evening.
The audience gathered around the back of the classroom and sat against the black clothed wall of the Socio Rehearsal Hall. The center of the room was left for the various instruments. Backstage, eight student musicians anxiously waited, making last minute adjustments while perfecting the final steps of their performance. It’s 7pm, and the show is about to commence.
By definition, the term percussion is used to describe the striking of one solid object with or against another with some degree of force. This idea is exactly what was executed in each of the songs performed throughout the evening. The musicians took to the stage to perform the first song on the agenda—a 1984 classical percussion piece titled “Hit the Deck” by contemporary composer David Noon. A scene was set where four friends, engaged in a card game, were sitting around a square table in a casual environment, sharing some snacks and a few great laughs. Each of the students held a thick stack of cards in their hands—then the magic began. In a synchronized, melodic manner, the four musicians began pounding the stack of cards on the table, creating different sounds and rhythms. This segment of the performance proved to be exhilarating, truly proving that music can still be made in the absence of traditional instruments.
The next performance, a 1997 piece titled “Brooms Hilda” by percussionist Chris Crockarell, was another notable segment. Six of the eight musicians, draped head-to-toe in all black attire, stepped to the center of the room with a broom in hand and a song in their hearts. From an audience perspective, the performers resembled affluent business moguls who decided to swap places with a janitor for a day.
They began by casually sweeping the floors of the hall, but within a matter of seconds loud noises erupted. The performers began stomping the brooms on the ground, one after the other at a slow but gentle pace. The sounds of the brooms striking the ground soon sped up, alternating between gentle and forceful thuds. In a matter of seconds, the scene resembled one that could just as easily be plucked from the popular 1964 Broadway play “Mary Poppins”.
The musicians responsible for the stellar performance for the evening include Aixa Burgos, Kareem Edwards, Whitney Edwards, Dom Gagliano, Leonardo De Jesus, and Michael Shaw, alongside two Julliard Pre-college guest students—Yibing Wang and Shiqui Zhong. The talented array of musicians was facilitated by the Percussion Faculty, which included Dr. Greg Giannascoli, Dr. Kenneth Piascik, and Jeremy Levine. Mark your calendars because the musician’s next performance, NJ Day of Percussion, is set to take place next year on Saturday, April 27, 2013!
