IU Summer Percussion Workshop to hold concert

Good vibrations are coming to the IU campus.

The IU Summer Percussion Workshop Grand Finale Concert will be at 3 p.m. Friday in Auer Hall.

“Percussion is anything that can be struck or scraped,” said John Tafoya, director of the IU Summer Percussion Academy/Workshop and Jacobs School of Music faculty member.

For the past few days, 53 students have struck and scraped in the Jacobs School of Music Percussion Academy/Workshop to perfect their own good vibrations. The academy is made up of younger musicians starting at age 13, while the workshop consists of adults 18 years or older. The students of both the academy and the workshop will perform in the Grand Finale Concert.

“It is a very intensive learning workshop,” Tafoya said. “The day starts at 8 a.m. and lasts until 10 p.m.”

The workshop is open to anyone, and consists of five days of preparation and instruction including clinics, master classes, recitals and performances.

“We are very excited about the project,” said Alain Barker, the Jacobs School of Music director of marketing and publicity. “There are students coming from different parts of the country and world.”

IU percussion faculty and world-renowned percussion artists such as the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Christopher Deviney and Wilco’s Glenn Kotche help to further the training of the participants through classes, rehearsals and critiques.

“John Tafoya was recently hired as the chair of percussion,” Barker said. “He can tap into phenomenal professionals to participate.”

The Grand Finale concert, will feature a mix of eight classical and pop genre percussion chamber works. Those included are Erik Satie’s “Genuine Flabby Preludes (for a dog),” Dan Welcher’s “Chameleon Music” and arrangements by numerous other composers including IU alumnus Craig Hetrick.

John Tafoya will conduct the concert with assistance from George Mason University Associate Professor of Music John Kilkenny.

The concert won’t be limited to drums. There will be tamborines and keyboards used alongside a wide variety of percussion instruments.

“There will be unusual and exotic instruments,” Tafoya said. “To say there are a variety of different styles is an understatement.”

Two other performances were offered Tuesday and Wednesday in Auer Hall. These performances featured solos by the faculty and artists who lead the academy and workshop classes.

The Grand Finale Concert is free and open to the public. It concludes the five-day workshop and is the last of the three percussion concerts.

“The (percussion) category is limitless,” Tafoya said. “The audience will be treated.”