Steel Band & Percussion Ensembles

A concert by the Pacific Lutheran University was held on November 22, 2019. It was a steel Band and percussion Ensembles. This concert was directed by Miho Takekawa and the performers were students that were apart of the percussion program. There was a student conduct, this was something seniors who were about to graduate had to do before they graduated. There were two special performers that were friends of Ms. Takekawa named Rebekah Ko and Storm Benjamin. They were professional percussion player.

There were many different pieces and composers that were played during this concert, so I will talk about my top three composers that I had liked from the concert. One was named Michael Udow, he was born 1949 in Detroit, Michigan. He attended the University of Illinois and graduated with the first doctoral degree in percussion performance. Udow is known for his unique and complex rhythms in his composition. After working with the Santa Fe Opera, he retired and decided to become a full-time composer. He still goes to different colleges and University’s to provide short compositions to the students who attend those schools.

Gustav Mahler was born 1860, he was a Austro Bohemian composer. He was the transition between the 19^th center to the 20^th century genre of classical music. He was not popular during his time; he was even banned from performing many places in Europe. It wasn’t until 1945 that his composition became popular, this was after his death. From a young age he had always shown talent for music. He graduated from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Even though as a composer he was not as successful, he ended up being a very important conductor. He only composed his pieces part time, but his full-time job was to conduct, and he was one of the best during his time.

Anders Koppel was born 1947 and was a Dutch composer. His father was also a composer and he learned the piano from his father, Herman D. Koppel. He later moved on to learn the clarinet and organ when he grew up. Anders was one of the founders of Savage Rose, this was a Dutch rock band. His children all ended up being involved in the arts and music as well. His son was in a Dutch rock band, his first daughter was an animator, and his second daughter was a singer that song in the genres of gospel, soul, and jazz.

After attending the concert, I quickly realized that I only liked very specific types of percussion instruments. I really thought this concert would be my favorite, but it ended up being my least favorite. The pieces that were played sounded nice and beautiful, but certain percussion instruments I felt were too strong in sound. Though the performance from the professional percussion players was amazing, I never knew the Xylophone could sound so amazing and pleasant to the ears. The student conductor was also good at conducting the piece he chooses to perform. The way he was leading the plays were very clear and smooth. I had an easy time following his movements as he was working with his players to perform the piece. Even though the music was not something I would personally listen too, the venue that the concert was being held in was very pretty. The interior of the venue was simple but very well-done designs on the walls and the way the lights were used really made the room stand out to the audience. I have never been in such a room before; the white and red color scheme really came together when the performance was being played out. This concert was a lot livelier than the orchestra concerts that I went too, the performers really liked to interact with the audience. The outside of the concert room had really cute glass art on the windows.