Marimba Sass

Still time to register for the Santa Fe Marimba Festival June 6th-9th, 2012

jeffsass — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:26:59 +0000

There is still time to register for the Santa Fe Marimba Festival this June 6th-9th. The amazing lineup of marimbists include: Barry Olsen, Dane Richeson, Ludwig Albert, Ivana Bilic, Kevin Bobo, Puis Cheung, Chin Cheng Lin, Nanae Mimura, Valerie Dee Naranjo, Victor Mendoza and Gordon Stout.

For more information and registration information please visit: http://www.santafemarimbafestival.org

Italy Percussion Competition set for September 5-12, 2012

jeffsass — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:39:48 +0000

The Italy Percussion Competition is set for September 5-12, 2012 at Villa Nazareth” - FERMO (Italy). For more information about the event head over to their Facebook page or the event website.

The deadline for application is the end of this month (May 31st) so be sure to get your applications in soon.

Ivana Bilic Marimba Week October 8-13, 2012

jeffsass — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:58:49 +0000

Ivana Bilic’s Marimba Week will be held October 8-13, 2012 in Samobor. The faculty this year include:

IVANA BILIC, PAOLO CIMMINO, SLOVENIAN PERCUSSION DUO, NANCY ZELTSMAN and RACHEL(XI) ZHANG

The event is sponsored by Marimba One, Adams and Edition Svitzer.

The full brochure in PDF form is available here as well.

Jenny Klukken performing “Zamba para escuchar tu silencio” by Guillo Espel

jeffsass — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:38:13 +0000

On March 11, 2012 at Faith Lutheran Church my friend Jenny Klukken performed a wonderful marimba solo called “Zamba para escuchar tu silencio” by Guillo Espel. I first heard about this piece at the Zeltsman Marimba Festival in 2009 and then heard it performed by Angel Frette at the Marimba 2010 International Festival and Conference.

I emailed Guillo Espel directly and he provided the following program notes:

“Zamba” is a traditional Argentine folk rhythm. For that reason, the title begins by giving an idea of the style of the piece, at least for the ones who are acquainted with traditional Argentine music. As to “para escuchar tu silencio,” we can translate like “to hear your silence”. The “Zamba” is an Argentine rhythm which is very popular & important in Argentina folk music. Rhythmically this song is unique as it is written in 6/8 instead of the normal 3/4 time and is usually accented on the last count of the measure than traditional simpler zamba music.Zamba music is often written in 6/8 and performed alternately in 3/4 and 6/8 time with the accents varying between measures. Traditionally zamba music has no relationship with chamber music. This piece is unique in that I bring my own connection to chamber music into a more traditional folk style by mixing the two styles. By shifting the traditional development of chords and the expanding the melody and by using the silence in the piece I am able to mix these two styles of music and expand upon a traditionalist zamba. By the way, the criterion of structuring the “musical silence” within each piece is one of my permanent concerns.

With Guillo Espel’s permission I was able to record and post Jenny’s performance below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Guillo’s quartet also recorded a version of this which is also a great arrangement.

To learn more about Guillo Espel you can visit his website. Thanks to Guillo for this fantastic piece which I hope will be played more frequently throughout the entire world.

22nd annual Concordia College Day of Percussion March 31, 2012

jeffsass — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:22:49 +0000

The 22nd annual Concordia College Day of Percussion will be held on March 31, 2012. This year’s featured artists include the Sauk Rapids-Rice High School Marimba Choir, Pius Cheung, David Stanoch, and the Omaha Percussion Ensemble. There is no charge for the event and it starts at 8am and runs until 5:30pm.

For more information please visit the Concordia College Day of Percussion website.

Ivana Bilic Marimba Week in Croatia October 8-13 2012

jeffsass — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:42:34 +0000

Ivana Bilic will host her Marimba Week in Samobor Croatia on October 8-13th, 2012. For more information you can head over to Ivana’s website or the Facebook page for this Marimba Week.

Santa Fe Marimba Festival set for June 6-9, 2012

jeffsass — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:18:55 +0000

The Santa Fe Marimba Festival is set for June 6-9, 2012. Currently the artist list includes Gordon Stout, David Friedman, Dave Samuels, Ludwig Albert, Ivana Billic, Kevin Bobo, Pius Cheung, Chi Cheng Lin, Nanae Mimra, and Valerie Dee Naranjo.

Many of these marimbists were at the Marimba 2010 Festival and Conference so it would be a great opportunity to see many of them again. For more information on registering for the event, visit their website or contact Artistic Director Sam Lunt at “sam@santafemarimbafestival.org”.

Evelyne Glennie Master Class and concert in St. Paul November 13th

jeffsass — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 01:34:34 +0000

Dame Evelyne Glennie is performing in St. Paul on November 13th at the House of Hope Presbyterian Church. The concert starts at 2pm and is free and open to the public.

Evolution Duo Premiere Concert Oct 13 1pm Eastern Online

jeffsass — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:17:03 +0000

The Evolution Duo Kickstarter project “Compose. Perform. Inspire” has completed and the premiere concert will be online tomorrow Oct 13 at 1pm Eastern. To listen to the great new duo works, head over to :

http://www.piteplay.se

The Facebook page for this event also has more information including the list of composers including:

Casey Cangelosi
Dave Hall
Baljinder Singh Sekhon
David Skidmore
Csaba Zoltan Marjan
Maria Finkelmeier
Jacob Remington

I am looking forward this concert and it is great that it is being posted online since they are in Sweden! Tweet #evolutionduopremiere during the event to join the discussion.

Jenny Klukken performing Sejourne marimba concerto with Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis

jeffsass — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:25:24 +0000

Jenny Klukken will be performing Emmanuel Sejourne’s “Concerto for Marimba and Strings” on November 6th at 3pm with the Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis. The performance will be held at Wayzata Community Church and is free and open to the public.

I will also be performing in this concert in the percussion session. Mark your calendars and come out and see a live marimba concerto being performed. It doesn’t happen that often!