Scored for Percussion Solo with Large Orchestra

Winner of the 2008 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards

Completed in 2007
Duration: 13 minutes

Premiered February 7, 2008 in Los Angeles, CA
Donald Crockett, Conductor
Eric Guinivan, Solo Percussion
University of Southern California Thornton Symphony

Program Note
Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra is the result of a fusion between two of my greatest musical passions: orchestral music and percussion music.  Rhythm has proven to be a life-long fascination for me, and I have been captivated by Percussion since I began playing at the age of ten.  After growing extremely fond of the orchestra during my early studies as a young composer, it has been a major goal of mine to write an orchestral showcase work for my favorite instrument.  Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra is a single-movement work full of energy and excitement in which the percussion takes center stage and is driven by aggressively colorful orchestration.

The exposition of Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra features the emergence of the principal theme shrouded in a mist of fading sonorities and gentle cascades.  After a large orchestral wave passes by, the marimba soon enters to propel the work into motion with a rapid and energetic melodic passage.  The piece continues through a series of atmospheres and tempos, each highlighting a different musical strength of the percussion and driving the piece towards a climactic conclusion.  Throughout the work, the soloist plays a five-octave marimba and a small multi-percussion set consisting of five toms, a bass drum, a bell tree, and four suspended bells.