School of Music
U N C G
Calandra Riley
percussion
assisted by:
Brandon Slocumb, trombone
Inara Zandmane, piano
Josh Cvijanovic, xylophone and bells
Michael Haldeman, timpani
Matthew Hill, percussion
Michael Lasley, vibraphone
Stephanie Sanders, drumset
Michael Wood, marimba
Senior Recital
Sunday, November 18, 2007
7:30 pm
Recital Hall, School of Music
Program
Ilijas (1996) Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic
(b. 1962)
True Colours (2006) John Thrower
(b. 1951)
Rebellion (1996) Stephen Rush
(b. 1958)
Intermission
Katamiya (1995) Emmanuel Séjourné
(b. 1961)
Concerto for Marimba and Percussion Ensemble (1986) Ney Rosauro
Saudação (Greetings) (b. 1952)
Lamento (Lament)
Dança (Dance)
Despedida (Farewell)
Calandra Riley is a student of Mr. Andrew Dancy
In partial fulfillment of the degree requirements for the
Bachelor of Music in Music Education
Program Notes
Ilijas is a rhapsodic composition, titled after a small town in the former Yugoslav republic of
Bosnia. It has a clear associations with folk tunes of that picturesque Balkan area, as well as
mixed rhythms and tonal scales whose roots could be found even further East. In the introduction
of the piece, Zivkovic calls for a very unusual marimba technique that produces sounds that
remind us of a Franz Liszt grand piano sound.
The middle part, however, uses typical marimbistic patterns, masterly composed in a number of
various odd meters with melody in the octaves played by the right hand.
The varied repetition of the opening part leads for a moment in a major keys, but after that short
"light of hope" the music goes back to the melancholy mood and ends peacefully, dying away...
-NJZ
Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic (b. 1962) completed his master’s degrees in composition, music theory,
and percussion in Mannheim and Stuttgart, Germany. He tours extensively throughout Europe,
and performs frequently in the USA, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Latin America, Russia, and
Scandinavian countries. Since 2003, he is the percussion department chair and visiting professor
at the University of NOVI SAD, Serbia (his home town). In addition to his full time composing and
concert activities, he gives master classes and seminars in Latin America and almost annually in
the United States.
True Colours was written for marimba Bogdan Bácanu who wanted a piece which should, in his
words ‘go very deep – filled with sadness’. Almost immediately the name ‘True Colours’ came to
mind.
True Colours is an appellation to everyone to recognize your own true colours, whatever they
might be, but at the same time – respect the individuality and characteristics of others, even if it
seems something beyond our own understanding. There is nothing wrong with difference of
opinion, yet still – we must always show respect.
-JT
John Thrower (b. 1951) studied composition in Toronto with John Weinzweig and Gustav
Ciamaga. He also studied computer music in Stockholm at the EMS studios. He was the
youngest conductor of the University of Toronto. In 1979, he got the 1st and 2nd price at the CBC
Radio Competition for composition. In the early 1980's, Thrower was a prominent composer in the
contemporary music in Canada. He had concerts with major composers such as John Cage,
Luciano Berio and others. However, Thrower turned away from contemporary style music, calling
his music CLASSIC FUSION.
Rebellion is about an urge, not a cause. It is a small portrait of energy, a capsule of the feeling
that an urgent need for change is felt or foreseen, and the beginnings of that change are even
portrayed in the final bombast of this piece.
-SR
Stephen Rush is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, where he works in an
interdisciplinary capacity in five departments with music, dance, art, engineering, and other
students. He is the director of the Digital Music Ensemble, and the Music Director of the Dance
Department. He was awarded, with his choreographer/collaborator Sandra Torijano-DeYoung the
Mention Honorifico from the Government of Costa Rica for innovative work in Modern Dance. He
is also known as a jazz pianist, performing with his electronic jazz group "Quartex", with jazz
legend Roscoe Mitchell, and as a co-producer of the radio series, "Uncharted Jazz" on NPR.
Katamiya is dedicated to the two winners of the “International Percussion Competition
Luxembourg” 1995: Momoko Kamiya and Katarzyna Mycka. Katamiya is a lyric and melodic
theme on an ever pulsating rhythm. I think that any piece of music, whether popular or modern
contemporary, features a kind of “groove” to be found and/or reinvented by the performer.
-ES
Emmanuel Séjourné (b. 1961) studied classical music at the National Conservatory of
Strasbourg (piano, violin, music history, and analysis) where he is now head of the percussion
department. He was introduced by Jean Batigne, Director and Founder of the Percussions de
Strasbourg, to the world of percussion, particularly in contemporary and improvised music. He
now specializes in keyboard percussion (vibraphone and marimba). Since 1981, he has been
active both as composer and a performer.
The Concerto for Marimba and Percussion Ensemble was originally written for marimba and
string orchestra and was premiered in the USA the same year with the Manitowoc Symphony
Orchestra in Wisconsin under the direction of Manuel Prestamo. With the commercial success of
a 1990 CD and video by Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie and the London Symphony
Orchestra, the Concerto rapidly came to be regarded as part of the standard literature for
percussion. It is considered to be the most popular marimba concerto today, and has been
performed by more than eight hundred orchestras worldwide.
The concerto contains four movements - unusual for the concerto form – which follow the fast-slow-
fast pattern, with the medium tempo third movement inserted before the vigorous finale.
Rosauro writes:
Originally I was going to call it “Serenata” for marimba and orchestra. A “Serenata” is a
serenade, like you go to the window of a loved one and you make a greeting, then a
lament, when you sing something sad, then to show off you do a dance—something
lively—and finally a farewell. This is where the ideas for the movement titles came
from.
Some Brazilian motifs and jazz elements are used throughout the piece, which contains strong
rhythmic patterns and catchy melodies. The marimba leads the thematic material throughout
much the piece, and as a result, the marimba part of certain movements can be performed solo,
without orchestral accompaniment. The solo part explores the many possibilities of modern four-mallet
technique, and according to reviews from Percussive Notes magazine "the concerto is
superbly written for the unique timbre and virtuoso technical qualities of the marimba."
-NR
Ney Rosauro (b. 1952) began his current position as Director of Percussion Studies at the
University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, USA in 2000. Dr. Rosauro studied Composition and
Conducting at the Universidade de Brasilia (Brazil). He then received the Masters Degree in
Percussion at the Hochschule fur Musik Wurzburg in Germany under Prof. Siegfried Fink. He
completed his Doctorate at the University of Miami under the supervision of Fred Wickstrom.
Dr. Rosauro has appeared in concert solo, and as a soloist with orchestras, in more than 35
different countries, including the most prestigious International Percussion Festivals.
