PERCUSSION ENSEMBLES

At the Moores School of Music, the cornerstone of our Department of Percussion Studies is the Moores School Percussion Ensemble. Directed by Dr. Wilkins, this vibrant and exciting ensemble, incorporating virtually all of our percussion majors, performs classically-oriented works composed expressly for percussion and scored for four to thirteen (or more!) percussionists. The ensemble currently performs at least one major concert each semester, and rehearses twice weekly for two hours each rehearsal.

Dr. Wilkins established the current percussion ensemble program in the Fall of 1997. The importance of the Percussion Ensemble in Dr. Wilkins' philosophy lies both in the opportunities it provides for effective teaching and in its purely artistic potential. From a pedagogical orientation, the Percussion Ensemble is an integral component of our multidimensional, comprehensive percussion training. On the one hand, the individual student's weekly private lesson deals in great detail with concepts and issues of technique, musicality, and performance; in complementary fashion, the Percussion Ensemble serves as the "workshop" within which those concepts can be most fully explored and musicianship most thoroughly developed. While the experience of rehearsals and performances with such large organizations as orchestra and wind ensemble are invaluable for the performing percussionist and critical to the training of the music educator, these media do not allow the student percussionist the same richness of musical involvement as for the other orchestral instrumentalists. Conversely, in the Percussion Ensemble -- or the "percussion orchestra" -- percussionists can enjoy a full range of music experience. While the Moores School Percussion Ensemble is committed to creative programming that embraces any number of musical styles and instrument combinations, many of the work programmed show a heavy reliance on keyboard instruments. In such an environment the percussion student is more intimately involved as an active participant with the traditional components of a "symphonic" ideal -- i.e., the handling of thematic materials, melody, harmony, etc. Hence, the percussion ensemble facilitates the exploration of such fundamental concepts as phrasing, chordal balance, and musical expression. It also affords us the opportunity to focus more deeply and intensely on the development of ensemble skills to a degree that is simply not possible for percussionists in the orchestral or wind ensemble environment.

Beyond this pedagogical aspect, the Percussion Ensemble maintains an equally important aesthetic dimension. The Percussion Ensemble is not simply a training ensemble, but a uniquely viable musical medium capable of a level of musical expression equal to or exceeding that of any other traditional chamber ensemble. Its potential is demonstrated by the attention it has garnered from some of this country's most noted composers, including David Maslanka, Dan Welcher, Christopher Rouse, and many others.

In short, participating in the Percussion Ensemble facilitates the student percussionist's growth as a comprehensive musician. It is without question the most important applied dimension of the percussionist's endeavors at the Moores School of Music.

The Moores School Percussion Ensemble performs a wide variety of music, written expressly for percussion ensemble by some of the most talented and innovative composers throughout the world. The following is a summary of past and upcoming programs: