The Portland State University Percussion Ensemble joins forces with the Portland Percussion Group (PPG) to present Patterns and Form, January 22, 2025. This collaborative performance will showcase the talents of PSU faculty, students, and alumni alongside the professional musical expertise of PPG, in a program of innovative and dynamic percussion music.
At the heart of the evening is the world premiere of Pattern and Form, a major work for percussion octet and piano by renowned contemporary composer Alejandro Viñao. This groundbreaking piece, commissioned by a global consortium led by Christopher Whyte, PSU Assistant Professor of Percussion and a founding member of PPG, highlights Viñao’s evocative and intricate compositional abilities.
“I wanted to write music where simple patterns gradually evolve into complex forms,” said Viñao. “In the final and perhaps most important movement of the piece, I wanted the music to evolve from a sound world that is texture-like, formless and dark into rhythms that are pulsed, immediate and have the dance-like quality of popular music. And I wanted this process to happen repeatedly, each time unfolding the fabric of form in a different way.”
What interested me most was the voyage of transformation itself, more than the departure or arrival points.”
“We’re thrilled to present this world premiere by Alejandro Viñao,” said Whyte. “This stunning addition to the chamber music and percussion repertoire marks a new milestone in Viñao’s varied and accomplished artistic journey, capturing the essence of his unique compositional voice. His work is so full of groove, color, timbre, evocative rhythm, complexity, and subtlety.”
The concert will also include other exceptional compositions performed by PSU students. The PSU Percussion Ensemble will perform Seaborne, Mvt. 1 "Above" by Garth Neustadter. The PSU Wind Symphony performs Run to the Light by Ivan Trevino, featuring solo performances by Tanner Dunaway, a first-year Master of Music student, and Jolan Hutchinson, a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance.
PPG rounds out the evening with an original collaboration by Terry Longshore and his son, PSU alumnus Max Longshore (mackxswell), who graduated from PSU's Sonic Arts & Music Production program in 2022.
This concert promises an evening of masterfully crafted percussion music, celebrating the creativity, collaboration, and talents of PSU’s music community.
Event Details
Date: January 22, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Lincoln Performance Hall (LH175)
Tickets are available now!