Percussia to Present Rhythm Explosion Concerts At Queens Library Branches

Percussia will present Rhythm Explosion, two free concerts at Queens Library branches on the following dates: Thursday, June 26 at 6 PM at Kew Gardens Hills Branch, 72-33 Vleigh Pl. in Flushing (new location for this event). Saturday, June 28 at 3 PM at Ridgewood Branch, 20-12 Madison St.

These concerts will feature Play of Hands, a new work exploring the rhythms of tango by the Argentinian bassist Pedro Giraudo. Percussia will also perform Harmon Ick's Return a quirky and adventurous composition by Ridgewood composer Skip LaPlante, which investigates the acoustic properties of overtone using spinning tubes, using non-traditional techniques.

Rounding out the program will be Essential Foods, an original composition by Klezmer great Frank London.

Composer Pedro Giraudo writes about Play of Hands, "This piece was commissioned by Percussia thanks to a generous grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. Composing it was a true joy, largely due to the ensemble's unusual and intriguing instrumentation, as well as the rich and diverse musical backgrounds of its members. While the only faint reference I drew upon was Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, the piece is also colored by impressionistic influences, elements of Argentine music (with a light nod to the milonga rhythm), and touches of jazz, including moments of improvisation. The title is a playful twist on the Spanish saying "Juego de manos, juego de villanos," reimagined to evoke both the mischievous spirit of the phrase and the joyful creativity that music can bring forth through the hands. "

Composer Skip LaPlante wrote, "Harmon Ick's Return explores often overlooked musical terrain - harmonics. Musical tones are, with the exception of specially generated electronic tones, a combination of many frequencies. If you change the musical instruments producing the tones, you change what frequencies are in that combination. If you do this using instruments which are identical in certain ways and wildly different in others, you can hear how the differences in the instruments affect the tones, or combinations of frequencies, heard. In what ways does a ten foot long flute sound different than a 3 foot long flute?" Instrumentation includes home-made flutes made from PVC pipes.

Performers will be Percussia members Ingrid Gordon (artistic director and percussion), Susan Jolles (harp), Margaret Lancaster (flute), Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin (viola) and Frank Cassara (percussion). Percussia's Queens Library performances are free and open to the public.