Faculty percussion recital to offer interesting combinations of sounds

The Director of Percussion Studies at Mercer University, Marcus Reddick, will be hosting and performing a faculty percussion recital on April 21 in Fickling Hall. Reddick said he used time as a theme for the recital.

“This concert is going to be like a passage of time,” Reddick said. “There's gonna be elements in almost every piece where you're going to hear ticking of clocks.”

Most of the pieces included will be solo pieces by Dr. Reddick. However, the Mercer Wind Ensemble will be helping with one piece, and Mercer graduate Emily Hall will be joining him for another.

Hall studied in the Townsend School of Music here at Mercer and graduated “about five or six years ago,” Reddick said.

The piece they will be playing together is titled “As One.” The piece, Reddick explained, will be played on a marimba. Both of them will be on either side of the instrument playing it at the same time.

He will also be playing two marimba pieces and two pieces composed by Casey Cangelosi. Cangelosi is a contemporary composer who incorporates the trinome, essentially a rhythmic metronome, into many of his pieces.

“You’re definitely going to be treated to some really interesting explorations in rhythm,” Reddick said when talking about the Cangelosi pieces.

On top of this, there will also be a three-movement piece titled “Therapy,” which was composed by John Serri. The piece will include a variety of instruments and objects to create different effects and combinations of sounds.

“It's kind of an interesting effect. It's almost like mice scurrying across the floor when you hear some of this stuff," Reddick said. "It's kind of a bombastic piece that draws to an interesting conclusion."

Altogether, the pieces total to about 62 minutes of music over the course of the recital.

Reddick said that the recital will include very tuneful things on the marimba, but some of the other instruments he will be playing, like the cowbells and woodblocks, will not provide those kinds of sounds. They will be different from what most audiences are used to hearing, but Reddick said that if “you're open to the sounds of it, it's just as amazing."

He also said that he wanted this to be an educational experience for those who come to the recital. "I really like the education through performance,” Reddick said. “It's one thing to stand up there and play great music, but when you're not educating people about what you're doing, you're just up there for no reason."

“Entertainer” is another important role Reddick wants to play in his recital. He said that entertainment is his “first and foremost” job as a musician.

Additionally, Reddick urged students to come to his recital, as this is an opportunity students might not have after graduating. Not only will those who come be able to hear contemporary pieces being played professionally, it is also be completely free and open to the public.

"I always say the more people that are out there, that are listening, the better the concert is because I feed off that energy, and then I feed it back to them,” said Reddick, “And then they feed it to me . . . it's totally symbiotic."