2019 Day of Percussion
WI Percussive Arts Society
Mukwonago High School
Saturday April 13, 2019
University of Wisconsin-Madison World Percussion Ensemble
Directed by Dr. Anthony DiSanza, Dr. Todd Hammes, & Dr. Tom Ross
Afternoon Concert
12:00pm | Band Room
The University of Wisconsin-Madison World Percussion Ensemble is dedicated to the performance of significant percussive styles from around the globe. Percussion traditions from various cultures, including Brazil, India, the Middle East & Cuba, are explored through performance and cultural research. The ensemble works to present the music performed in its traditional folkloric settings as well as creating contemporary arrangements. In 2010 the ensemble won the Percussive Arts Society International World Percussion Ensemble Competition, resulting in a feature performance at PASIC. Today’s performance will include a hands-on session during which the audience will be invited to play traditional Brazilian drumming styles.
​
The University of Wisconsin-Madison percussion program is broad-based, including studies in Western solo, chamber and orchestral repertoire, jazz performance on drum set and vibraphone, as well as study of selected non-Western percussive styles. The program supports the Western and world percussion ensembles as well as numerous other ad hoc chamber experiences. Courses in percussion repertoire
.jpg)
and percussion pedagogy are offered in a regular basis for the graduate and upperclass undergraduate students.
​
Occasionally, in cooperation with other campus programs, the percussion department hosts long term residencies by master percussionists from the United States and abroad. Juan de Marcos Gonzáles (Havana, Cuba & New York City), Roberto Vizcaino Guillot (Cuba) and John Santos (San Francisco) have held long term residencies teaching the world percussion ensemble as well as various lessons and coachings in Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean musical styles.
The percussion studio, founded on a highly selective admission policy, is generally comprised of 10-12 undergraduate and 3-4 graduate students. All students study with faculty and have many opportunities to work with numerous guest percussion artists brought to campus each year. Percussion lesson curricula are individually designed for each student, creating a personalized education that emphasizes broad skills while allowing each student the creative room to pursue areas of personal interest.
​
Great care is given to maintaining a balanced and selective studio affording each student extensive and diverse performance opportunities. All of the undergraduate and masters students perform in one of the large ensembles (orchestras and/or bands) and also have opportunities to perform in the jazz program, the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble and other curricular and non-curricular chamber ensembles.
​