Orchestral percussion students have the full gamut of percussion instruments to learn. Mallet percussion, timpani and snare drum are the main focus for orchestral percussion students. A full set of percussion instruments is available for tuition and practicing, and a wealth of repertoire, built up over the last three decades ensures that all aspects of percussion playing can be covered. In addition there are hire instruments available for students to practice at home. The percussion ensembles deal with group playing and developing listening skills, but also provide students with the opportunity to learn techniques for the many other percussion instruments they may play in wind bands or other ensemble settings.4th Term Percussion Concert 2017
This concert featured a variety of groupings, with solos with accompaniment, duets, trios and quartets. We featured music for unpitched percussion, music for mallet ensemble and some mixed items using a full range of instruments. The UCT ensemble kept up the tradition of supporting our concerts, playing an item with Beau Soleil ensemble student, Isaac van der Merwe. They also performed Trio per Uno by Nebojsa Zivkovic, a well-known percussionist and composer for percussion instruments.
On 19 September we had our 7th edition of the Drum Kit Exposé. This year we paid tribute to Jeff Porcaro, legendary drummer on Toto fame and one of the post prolific studio drummers of the 1970s and 1980s. Naturally, a good portion of the programme consisted of songs by Toto, but there was a wealth of other material to choose from to highlight other aspects of Jeff’s career. As is usual for the Drum Kit Exposé, four drummers were in the line-up and for the 1st time, live musicians were used for the entire programme. Special thanks goes out to all the musicians who gave up their time, Adrian Fowler, Sheldon Yoko, Jarryd West, David West, Claire de Kock, Alex Mayers, Jeandre Schultz, Shannon Devy and Beau Soleil students Dalya Zimbler and Aiseah Ramos. Once again Yamaha sponsored a drum kit as the main give away for the evening, as well as some T-shirts. They also sponsored the sound equipment and some instruments. Paul Bothner Music and Zildjian provided some additional prizes and SoundOut sponsored and amazing lighting display in their usual professional and efficient manner. A massive thank you to all involved for making the 2017 event a success, and to all those that came to the show!
The concert in the 3rd term traditionally focuses on drums and rhythmic percussion as opposed to mallet percussion. Despite the lack of melodic percussion, some of the pieces were thematic, and melodic interest was effectively created with the range of pitches from the drums. There were two snare drum quartets and one duet where the students had to rely on each other for timing and ensemble playing, a significant challenge when there isn’t a melody to follow. The Intermediate Ensemble performed a piece in an irregular time signature, Study in 5/8 by Mitchell Peters, adding another challenge to the ensemble aspect of performing, and did very well to stay together. The Senior Ensemble performed a piece in four movements, Percussion Music by Michael Colgrass, with changing time signatures and strong thematic material throughout. All the students handled the challenging repertoire admirably well and performed with confidence!
This annual event is a performance based workshop that features elements related to the drum kit. It takes place in the third term each year, straight after the end of term percussion concert.
