On November 10, the Southwestern University Percussion Ensemble performed their Fall 2024 production under Jordan Walsh’s direction at the Caldwell Carvey Foyer to showcase what they have been working on this semester. The audience heard a wide array of music, including a piece that premiered for the first time during this production.

During this performance, the percussion was able to show off various percussion instruments, with the first piece featuring two of the most unique instruments of the night: a cello and flower pots. “Boris Kerner” by Caroline Shaw is about the studies of the titular Boris Kerner and his book Introduction to Modern Traffic Flow Theory and Control: The Long Road to Three-Phase Traffic Theory, translating the ebb and flow of the road into a duet between the cello, was played by Reagan Barnholt 27’, with the sounds of flower pots being played by Jordan Walsh. Walsh mentioned before the performance that despite not playing a percussion instrument, Barnholt has been a frequent collaborator with the ensemble for the past few semesters and has been great to work with, adding to the variety of music he can showcase. 

Both the second and fourth pieces performed share a composer, Sebastian Zhang, who is also currently a student at the University of Texas at Austin, and who also just so happened to have gone to the same high school as ensemble member Christopher Hardesty-Crouch 27’; it was through that connection that director Walsh was able to get in touch with them to use two of their pieces and have them present in the audience during the performance. Zhang was able to personally speak about their creative process when it came to both of their compositions. First was “Puppet Lion,” which Zhang describes as being inspired by their experience as Chinese-Americans who grew up in North Texas and how their parents would take them to lion dances where two people would perform in a giant lion costume. This experience is reflected in the music where two musicians, Ethan Levinsky 27’ and Walsh, play one marimba simultaneously. Walsh also comments that this narrative also holds through the difficulty of the music because “If one of us running the puppet lion falls over… it’s trouble for the whole lion.”

The second Sebastian Zhang piece and the fourth performance of the night were “Birdfrog” by Christopher Hardesty-Crouch, Ethan Levinsky, and Danae Sevilla 28’, once again all sharing one marimba. Zhang tells how the inspiration for this composition came from when they first moved to Austin. They would hear chirping noises that they learned came from tiny frogs native to Austin, which is the idea behind this work. These natural sounds were the basis of the piece are portrayed in the percussionists’ simultaneous playing, where multiple sounds are being heard simultaneously, akin to what one might listen to walking around Austin at night as the frogs and other night creatures sing their songs.

The third work performed by the ensemble was “Mariel” by Osvaldo Golijov, performed by Hardesty-Crouch on marimba and Barnbolt on cello. “Mariel” was written as an elegy for one of Golijov’s friends who passed away, and as such, takes a more melodic approach than the other pieces that were a part of this production, being, as Walsh put it, “the low” of the night. The cello returned for this production to add to the somber tone of the piece through its sound.

The fifth piece of the night is incredibly unique as it premiered for the first time during this performance as a collaboration between the Percussion Ensemble and composer Sophie Mathieu. “Illuminations,” performed by Sevilla, Walsh, Hardesty-Crouch, Hisky, and Luke Marx 25’, is about 2021’s Winter Storm Yuri or, as Mathieu puts it (and how audiences many better know it), “Snowmageddon” and its aftermath on Texas’ wildlife as the light reflected off the melting snow. Director Walsh spoke about how exciting it was to be the actual first ensemble to play a musical work as this was the first time this ensemble was able to do such a thing.

The final production performance played by Sevilla, Levinsky, Hardesty-Crouch, Marx, and Hisky was “Mudra” by Bob Becker. After Director Walsh gave his thanks to each member of the ensemble for their hard work and dedication, he went on to describe the works of composer Bob Becker and how he came across the sounds that he then put in his work, with Mudra being the name of Buddhist hand symbols, and the music containing “ragga, which is the cycle that a lot a North Indian music works on” and some of it not being functional harmonies which Walsh states may be a “challenge on the ears.” This 13-minute-long piece of music is where all the ensemble members show off all their skills as a group to close off the Fall of 2024. 

The percussion ensemble showed excellently for all their hard work this semester. Audiences are encouraged to come again to see what they will put together for next semester and the ones following it.