The Colorado State University Percussion Ensemble, directed by Eric Hollenbeck, accepted an invitation to perform at the 2010 Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) in Indianapolis, IN. A performance at PASIC is the highest award a collegiate percussion ensemble can achieve; CSU is slotted for the new music literature session which offers the longest playing time, and is the most attended concert at the conference with 1000 patrons expected.
To mark the event, CSU commissioned a new piece from me, scored for trumpet and percussion quartet, called Rub-a-dub-dub-DUB. The title references Dub, a sub-genre of (mostly) electronic music originally derived from Reggae. I spent a large portion of the piece exploring reggae rhythms and motives, but I also attempted to emulate with acoustic instruments some of the digital delay effects so common to Dub as a style.
They gave a preview concert on Sunday, November 7, 2010 at 3:00 PM at CSU’s Griffin Concert Hall, University Center for the Arts, in Fort Collins, Colorado. The PASIC performance will take place on Thursday, November 11 at 4:00 PM. PASIC’s New Percussion Literature Session is sponsored by Pearl and Innovative Percussion.