I had the privilege of playing Amy Skjei’s piano solo “Whispering Pines” on marimba with Jeff Skaare on bass guitar. I hope you enjoy it!
You can check out her compositions and music at her web site at: https://amyskjeipiano.com/
Kelly Grill will be performing Emmanuel Sejourne’s Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra on Sunday November 17, 2024 with the Watzata Symphony Orchestra at 3:00pm at the Eisenhower Community Center 1001 Highway 7, Hopkins, MN 55305.
The performance will be part of a concert entitled “Star-Crossed Lovers” and will also feature Wagner’s “Prelude to Die Meistersinger”, and Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 2”.
The event is free and no tickets are required. Donations gratefully accepted. Come out to support the marimba!
Enjoy the following recording of “We Three Kings” by Bruce Henczel. This was performed by myself on marimba and Jeff Skaare on bass guitar.
You can purchase the sheet music for this piece at Steve Weiss Music in the “Christmas Marimba” book:
https://www.steveweissmusic.com/product/henczel-christmas-marimba/marimba-solo
Faith Lutheran Church has started a “Pastor’s Podcast”. I was honored to be interviewed for their May 2017 episode.
I spoke about my background in music, the Zeltsman Marimba Festival, Faith’s Good Friday service, and the role of musicians and technology in worship.
You can listen to the podcast here.
From my previous post I have stated how much of a fan I am of Guillo Espel’s music.
His quartet recently recorded another version of one of my favorite pieces “zamba para escuchar tu silencio” at the Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires. This version is for quartet and includes a piano part.
It is important for percussionists to listen to all types of music and all types of arrangements to become better musicians. If you are working on the “zamba” solo for marimba be sure to take time to listen to the composer’s quartet playing it. Thanks Guillo for sharing this link and congratulations on your recent concert!
My grandmother Ida Sass is turning 100 this year and we are having a number of celebrations for that great milestone. In one of them, my cousin Jake Froelke and I played an arrangement of Yiruma’s River Flows In You for electric bass and marimba. Here is an excerpt of that piece:
To learn more about this Korean composer please visit his YouTube channel.
You can catch Jake playing in the band “American Feedbag” head over to their web site to catch up with their latest happenings.
Jisu Jung was featured as a Young Artist in Residence on the show “Performance Today“. She performed Bach, Cage, Ewazen’s “Northern Lights”, Muramatsu’s “Land”, and Druckman’s “Reflections on the Nature of Water”.
The recordings and the 3 part interview are all available online at the Performance Today website at:
Jisu Jung, marimba on “Performance Today”
Anytime there is a recording of “Land” I will stop whatever I am doing and listen. This performance was beautifully played and brightened my day. I hope everyone enjoys the performances and the interview.
The 13th season of the Zeltsman Marimba Festival will be held at Rutgers University at the Mason Gross School of the Arts on June 28th – July 11th, 2015. This year’s ZMF will feature the largest ever faculty and guest list including: Pius Cheung, Emmanuel Sejourne, Julie Spencer, Gordon Stout, Mike Truesdell, Jack Van Geem, and Nancy Zeltsman.
Guest composers include Paul Lansky, Daniel Levitan, Steven Mackey, Andrew Thomas, and Ivan Trevino.
One additional option is to attend the “ZMF Weekend” from July 3rd – July 5th. This option is for those who cannot make it for the entire 2-weeks but still want to attend the 3 evening concerts and 10 talks/masterclasses. You cannot beat this incredible price for what you are getting for this weekend of fantastic marimba performances.
Registration opens on February 1, 2015 so start planning for a great summer in New Jersey now!
Mark Ford has asked 150 marimbists to list 1 to 4 marimba solos that were published in the last 10 years that represent the “new wave” of marimba literature. The results of that survey are at:
http://www.markfordmusic.com/new-marimba-music-survey/
What I found really telling about this list is that I only knew about 1/2 of the solos. Our generation of marimbists will probably be remembered more for how we furthered the repretoire instead of our playing but I am sure that topic is up for debate. Thanks Mark for putting this together and enjoy the list!
(updated 4/19/2015 – updated link to survey)
The International Percussion Competition Luxembourg will occur February 14-22, 2015. For more information head over to their Facebook page, and the IPCL 2015 flyer.
The event features a quartet competition so look for 3 other percussionists and start practicing! The registration deadline is October 1, 2014. Keep visiting their page for more up to date information as the deadline arrives.