School of Music Hosts Drum Downtown XI This Weekend

The always popular event Drums Downtown, featuring the Ohio State Percussion Ensemble, celebrates its 11th year of innovative collaboration, with performances at 8 p.m. tonight, April 3 and Saturday, April 4 at the Riffe Center's Capitol Theater, 77 South High St. in downtown Columbus.

This year's program, Move, will highlight works inspired by the art of movement as it relates to dance, percussion and the visual arts. Featured will be multiple styles of dance including modern, ballet, social (foxtrot and Charleston), clogging and a rousing step team finale showcasing Ohio State's Psi Delta chapter of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Inc.

Noteworthy selections include:

• Drumroll by Mary Ellen Childs, for four drummers on rolling chairs
• Whirligigs by Joseph Krygier, utilizing reactive digital delay and featuring Sympatico Percussion Group
• Libertango by Astor Piazzolla, featuring Mark Rubinstein on accordion
• A novelty ragtime set of Jovial Jasper, Spanish Waltz and Charleston Capers, featuring Susan Powell on xylophone

Joining the Percussion Ensemble will be students and faculty from the Department of Dance and Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD), in addition to the dynamic professional percussion quintet, Sympatico. School of Music faculty Joseph Krygier and Susan Powell direct the Percussion Ensemble and serve as artistic directors for the event.

Featured on the program will be choreography by Melanie Bales, Sofie Clemmensen, Susan Hadley, Susan Petry, Janet Schroeder and Brandon Whited, and visual work by ACCAD collaborators Alan Price, Alice Grishchenko and Shumeng Zhao.

Reserved seating tickets are $20, general public; $10 senior citizens, Alumni Association members, Ohio State faculty and staff, students and children. Advance ticket sales available through the Ohio State Theatre box office (614) 292-2295 and CAPA Ticket Center (614) 469-0939.

Photo credit: Nick Fancher