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Percussion

Percussion Ensemble

Degrees

Bachelor of Music

Bachelor of Arts in Music

Percussion students in all degree programs receive:

  • weekly hour private lessons
  • weekly master class
  • weekly percussion ensemble
  • opportunities to assist in conducting and teaching

The Nazareth College Percussion Ensemble and Marimba Band

  • weekly rehearsals
  • performances each semester
  • wide variety of percussion literature including contemporary and classical works, jazz, improvisation, marimba literature, electronic and acoustic percussion, Latin percussion, and student works.
  • open to non-majors by audition

Past Tours include performances at:

  • Percussion Rochester Festival, Eastman School of Music
  • Rochester Riverside Convention Center
  • the Winter NYSSMA Conferences, Rochester
  • NYS Percussive Arts Society Days of Percussion
  • Onondaga Community College
  • Monroe Community College
  • Finger Lakes Community College
  • South Seneca High School
  • NYSBDA Symposium, Syracuse, NY
  • Villa Maria College, Buffalo, NY
  • the MENC National Biennial In-Service Conference, Phoenix, AZ

Percussion Master Classes

  • weekly classes in areas such as jazz drum set, improvisation on mallet percussion and hand drums, orchestral percussion, maintenance and repair of percussion equipment, percussion literature, marimba, vibraphone, and multiple percussion.
  • student performance classes for works in progress utilizing peer as well as teacher review.

Percussion Ensemble Concerts 2012-2013

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. - Wilmot Recital Hall
Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. - Wilmot Recital Hall


Percussion News

The Nazareth College Percussion Ensemble was invited to perform at the inaugural event, Percussion Rochester, held at the Eastman School, May 3-5, 2012. The group filled the Miller Center Atrium and received much praise for their eclectic and accessible performance. The program featured two Nazareth student composers, Shade Zajac and Richard Yogis; as well as Zimbabwean marimbist, Goodwell Nzou. Dylan Niver, freshman in Music Education, was the rudimental snare drum soloist on Cuban Concerto.

Assistant Professor Kristen Shiner McGuire, was the featured soloist with the Greater Rochester Music Educator's Wind Band in January with her performance on marimba of Movement I of the Rodrigo Guitar Concerto. Sophomore Matthew Bevan Perkins, played the accompanying marimba part. Professor Shiner McGuire participated in the Women in Music Festival concert at Nazareth in March and played her own composition, The Wish for marimba and piano. She also presented a faculty recital in February, where she performed songs from her new album, Kristen Sings and Plays and Rings. These performances may be viewed. 

Greg Best, Percussion Major and Junior in Music Business, received the 2010 Raymond Shiner Jazz Award. The NCR Percussion Ensemble had a busy year of performances; including those for the Arts Center Opening, at the Convention Center for the National 4H Conference, and at MCC. The Spring 2010 concert featured Thomas Nanni, guest tabla soloist, and the Bach Children's Chorus; as well as student compositions and arrangements by Nicholas Paruta and Sean Rosenberry. Nazareth Alum, Charles R. Curran presented a series Afro Cuban workshops. Our percussion majors travelled to the Percussive Arts Society International Conference in Indianapolis in November. With the help of Dr. Roy Stein, we purchased a new electronic drum set for our Music Business program.

Kristen Shiner McGuire, now in her 28th year as Coordinator of Percussion Studies, was the featured marimba soloist with the Greater Rochester Music Educator's Wind Band in January, 2010 performing Corky Fabrizio's arrangement of the third movement of the Rodrigo Guitar Concerto. (You may find that on Youtube). Ms. Shiner McGuire was also a performer on the Women in Music Concert this past March, playing her own composition for solo marimba, Earth, soon to be published by Media Press.


Videos

Percussion Ensemble Concert, December 6, 2012

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