Hartt Presents PERCUSSION PARK 4/16

Under the direction of Benjamin Toth, the Hartt Percussion Ensemble presents Percussion Park, a full length musical landscape composed by Hartt faculty member and recipient of the 2011 Hartt Alumni Award, David Macbride. This performance is on Saturday, April 16, at 7:30 PM, in Millard Auditorium and throughout the Fuller Music Center. A map of the performance sites will be distributed in Millard Auditorium. The audience is invited to roam the building to enjoy the music, and to participate in a meditative finale (percussion instruments provided). FREE ADMISSION AND FUN FOR ALL AGES! For more information, contact the University of Hartford Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 1.800.274.8587, or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.

Percussion Park was premiered by the University of North Carolina Pembroke Percussion Ensemble (Tracy Wiggins, Director) in 2010. This performance features a newly revised version especially adapted for the Hartt Percussion Ensemble, who have generously contributed valuable ideas. David Macbride says, "I have been increasingly interested in pieces with audience participation as a means of blurring the lines between performers and observers, following in the tradition of composers Cage and Takemitsu. With the audience able to create its own 'itinerary and flow' through the piece, the experience becomes more like walking in a park or a garden; the audience actually co-creates the work."
Benjamin Toth, director of the Hartt Percussion Ensemble says, "Percussion Park reflects David's interest in sharing his work with his community and is a natural extension of the many family concerts he has presented in the area. It is also the culmination, in a sense, of the vast amount of music he has written for percussion to date. Percussion Park is in the spirit of a John Cage's Musicircus, but reflecting David's own creative and unique vision."

About The Hartt Percussion Ensemble
The Hartt Percussion Ensemble first performed in 1947 and began rehearsing and presenting concerts on a regular basis in 1950, distinguishing it as one of the first ensembles of its type in the United States. Since it's inception more than 60 years ago, the ensemble has had only two directors: Alexander Lepak and Benjamin Toth.

With an emphasis on chamber music, the Hartt Percussion Ensemble's repertoire includes works for both small and large ensembles. Programming includes percussion ensemble "classics," as well as contemporary literature and premier performances. Concerts also have featured the folkloric music of various cultures, including that of Mexico, Africa, Cuba, and the Middle East, as well as American Ragtime. In addition, the Hartt Graduate Percussion Trio and the Hartt Steelband serve as extensions of the Hartt Percussion Ensemble. Ensemble members pursue a wide variety of majors at The Hartt School, including percussion performance, music education, music management, acoustics, music production and technology, and composition.

Benjamin Toth, Professor of Percussion at The Hartt School, brings more than 20 years of professional chamber music performing experience to the ensemble. He has performed in Brazil, Ghana, Hong Kong, Japan, Trinidad, and throughout Europe and the United States. He has recorded for the Albany, Arabesque, Bis, Centaur, GIA, Hartt, Innova, Musica Europea, TNC, and Yesa labels, having appeared on seventeen recordings.

David Macbride has composed extensively for percussion, with more than 45 works, ranging from solo and chamber music to his Percussion Concerto (One Revolution) for percussion soloist and orchestra, written for Ben Toth. These pieces have been performed at numerous Percussive Arts Society International Conventions and in recital and ensemble programs across the US and abroad. Macbride has written for all manner of percussion instruments, including traditionAl Western and Eastern instruments, as well as household and found objects. A number of pieces have been recorded for CD, including a solo release titled Conundrum: The Percussion Music of David Macbride featuring Benjamin Toth on Innova Recordings. Publishers of Macbride's percussion music include Media Press, Norskmusikforlag, Pan Press, and Smith Publications.

The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford that offers innovative degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920, Hartt has been an integral part of the University of Hartford since its charter merged the then Hartt School of Music, the Hartford Art School, and Hillyer College to create the University in 1957. 2010 markEd Hartt's 90th year of providing world class performing arts education to students in Greater-Hartford and around the world. With more than 400 concerts, recitals, plays, master classes, dance performances, and musical theatre productions a year, performance is central to Hartt's curriculum. For more information about The Hartt School, visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.

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