Expect the percussion ensemble NEXUS to pack a punch, and that’s even before they stroke any of the more
than 50 instruments they carry on tour with them.
When the curtain opens on that assemblage of instruments, "there’s the beauty of all that,"
said Garry Kvistad, one of the Toronto-based ensemble’s five members.
NEXUS will perform in a Festival Series concert Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. in Kobacker Hall on the Bowling Green
State University campus. Tickets are $20 to $36 and $15 to $29 for students. NEXUS members also include
Bob Becker, Bill Cahn, Robin Engelman and Russell Hartenberger
The dozens of instruments – marimba, xylophone, gongs, bells, bongos – that the group has on the Kobacker
stage is a small sampling of the members’ collections. Kvistad said. Among them, they probably have
thousands of percussion instruments.
"I personally own about 100 gongs of different sounds and shapes," he said.
That variety of timbre and sonorities is part of the attraction of a percussion ensemble, Kvistad said.
NEXUS’ sound grew directly out of the ensemble’s experimentation with all the tones and tunes that could
be elicited from that collection.
The ensemble started in 1971 as an improvising ensemble, and the ensemble continues to present a few
completely ad libbed performances. That spontaneous composition "gives you a different picture of
the sonic possibilities," Kvistad said. "Through our improvisations we’re able to experiment
and draw on many possibilities and make other choices."
Kvistad was not a member of the group when it started. He joined in 2002, the first non-founder in its
ranks.
"They ended up taking a lot of
what members learned by improvising on these exotic instruments and turned them into compositions of
their own." Then they commissioned outside composers to use their sonic discoveries in pieces.
Though percussion is probably the oldest family of instruments, he said, it was only until the 20th
century that composers started writing pieces specifically for percussion.
Before percussion was considered simply "coloration." In the 20th century "it became the
vernacular of a lot of composers," he said.
The music produced has a vast range "from very pure to incredible noise, from the softest to the
loudest," he said. While earlier composers were "didn’t know how to handle" all those
possibilities, modern composers reveled in the challenges.
The program at BGSU will include member Bill Cahn’s own "Kebjar-Bali," based on the music of
Indonesia.
Other pieces on the program are: "Prelude – Winter Song" by Gordon Stout, which was
commissioned for NEXUS by Ruth Underwood, known for her work with Frank Zappa; two pieces by Steve Reich
including the first section of the seminal minimalist piece "Drumming" and "Music for
Pieces of Wood"; and two works by John Cage, "Chess Pieces’ and "Dance Music for Elfrid
Ide."
The ensemble presented the U.S. premier of the latter Cage piece, which had been discovered in a box at
Mills College in California where the composer had taught. Written in 1941, it apparently had never been
performed. The piece shows the influence of African and Asian music, Kvistad said, and has quiet
sections as well as "heavy duty drum solos."
"Chess Pieces," Kvistad said, "is very beautiful and tonal and rhythmic, unlike what some
people’s impression of what John Cage’s music would be."
Though much recent music has a reputation for being difficult and "anti-audience" –
"bleep-blop music" was Kvistad’s phrase – NEXUS performances usually elicit positive
reactions. "I had no idea how exciting tat music could be" is a common response after a
concert, Kvistad said.
"We choose music we really love," the percussionist said, "and it usually coincides with
what most audiences like."
Drum roll
What: BGSU Festival Series concert
Who: NEXUS
When: Oct. 8 at 8 p.m.
Where: Kobacker Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center on the BGSU campus.
How much: Tickets $20 to $36 and and $15 to $29, for students. Call 419-372-8717 or 1-800-589-2224.
