Faculty percussion recital set for Saturday

Kyara Morales-Rodriguez, Campus Reporter

Eastern’s Department of Music will be hosting a faculty recital, “Drums n’ Percussion,” at 7 p.m. on Saturday. This concert will be a virtual event, with the performance being live-streamed from the Doudna Fine Arts YouTube channel.

In order to follow COVID-19 guidelines, the Department of Music has gone great lengths to make sure this concert is done safely.

The concert will be held in the Proscenium Theatre at the Doudna Fine Arts Center, with the performer and an audio crew made up of just four people being the only ones there. People can then tune in and watch the performance from the comfort of their homes.

The concert will feature a solo performance of drums and percussion from professor of percussion, Jamie Ryan. Ryan will be performing eight pieces at this concert, all of which are original work and arrangements.

“There’s a lot of music drawn from my passion for Afro-Cuban culture and music, so there’s a lot of pieces for drums and singing, which I do both of. There’s a piece by Brad Decker that he wrote me that I got to come up with some fun stuff for,” Ryan said. “There’s a piece that honors three of my favorite drummers and three very important drummers who died in the last year. I sort of pay a little tribute to each of them by borrowing from some of their music throughout their long careers.”

There is a particular piece that Ryan believes will draw some strong reactions from the attendees, as it deals with the Black Lives Matter movement and the issue of systemic racism in the United States.

“I hope people will approach [the piece] with an open mind. There’s a whole lot of work to do on that front,” Ryan said. “The piece is an artistic example of shining a light on systemic racism and injustice toward African Americans, which is a centuries-long, massive problem in this country. I’ve created that piece to draw some attention to that.”

Because the concert only features a single percussionist and his set of drums, Ryan is well aware that some people may be confused by that, as most people are used to seeing drummers perform as part of a band.

“Some people will dig it, some people might be a little confused by a concert entirely of drums, and some people might actively hate it. All those responses are okay,” Ryan said.

Ryan said he just hopes people will tune in, have an open mind toward the performance, and enjoy the show.

 

Kyara Morales-Rodriguez can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].