Fall 2016 Clinic/Master Class and Concert Tour

During the first two weeks of November 2016, I had the joy and honor of sharing my expertise of the Elliott Carter, Eight Pieces for Four Timpani, with students from three fine percussion studios in the Philadelphia area: the institutions with their percussion teachers were Rowan University – Dean Witten, West Chester University – Ralph Sorrentino, and the Curtis Institute of Music – Don Liuzzi. Students in each of the studios were well-prepared to perform Carter pieces for me in a master class setting plus I presented some material about the Carter with a clinic format.

I scheduled these clinics/master classes to coincide with a concert tour of the Costa Rica Percussion Ensemble that had a few concerts in that area, and then was to culminate with a performance at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis. Since the director of the Ensemble, Bismarck Fernández, was a student of mine back in the 70s when I was teaching and performing in Costa Rica, and since one of my other students from that era, Fernando Meza who now is the head of the percussion department at the University of Minnesota would be joining the group for the tour, they invited me to join them as well. We performed three concerts in the Philadelphia area: West Chester University, Temple University, and Kutztown University. Then the group continued their tour to the Chicago area, while I stayed in Philly for the Curtis master class. We met up again in Indianapolis for the PASIC concert. It was a wonderful reunion with my former students (and their students — my musical grandchildren!) both on the musical and human relations scales. Below is a little video from after the PASIC concert that proved to be a huge success. That is the Costa Rican flag, and the cry is Pura Vida!