Percussion and Violin Duo Creates New Musical Language Through “Percussion Continents”; Concerts Scheduled
Contact: George Manlove at (207) 581-3756
ORONO — Students at three coastal Maine high schools will have a chance to follow the beat of a different drummer this week, as University of Maine Music Department Professor Stuart Marrs and a long time musical collaborator introduce them to new music for violin and percussion.
Marrs, a percussionist, and friend Jan Dobrzelewski of Switzerland, a conductor and violinist currently residing in Costa Rica, will perform “Percussion Continents,” selected works from six composers, including another UMaine music faculty member, Beth Wiemann.
“We are calling it an ‘informance,’ ” Marrs says. “It is more than music. What we’re going to play for them will be something they have never heard before in their lives, but we hope they will hear again in the future. This is music that has been composed for us.”
In concert with the music, Marrs and Dobrzelewski have added an educational component to their presentation. They will present and discuss the music with students, but they also suggested that music teachers at George Stevens Academy and The Liberty School in Blue Hill and Searsport District High School talk with students about the geography of the countries of origin of the composers and of the percussion instruments, or perhaps examine the paintings of Georgia O’Keefe, whose artwork inspired the composition of one of the pieces.
Marrs and Dobrzelewski, who first began working together in 1972, when both worked with the National Symphony of Costa Rica, also have recorded together, most recently on a CD titled Percussion Continents 1. They hope to produce Percussion Continents 2 in 2005.
They hope the high school students, who will hear an abbreviated version of a more comprehensive faculty concert planned for Feb. 14 at Minsky Recital Hall at the University of Maine, experience their new music with open minds.
“I’ll be playing dozens of instruments set up all around me,” Marrs says. “There is a visual impact. We want our audience to experience something new and for them to develop their artistic sensibilities in an expansive way.”
While Dobrzelewski extends the sound possibilities of his violin, Marrs will play an array of percussion instruments, including timpani, cymbals, a triangle, xylophone, tom-toms and snare drums.
Marrs and Dobrzelewski will appear at George Stevens Academy at 8 a.m. on Feb. 11, at the Liberty School at 10:55 a.m. on Feb. 12 and in Searsport at the high school, at 12:45 p.m. on Feb. 12.
Marrs can be reached with questions at 581-1247.