Company News - percussion

Featured Video: HEXACHRON by Matt Moore

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Check out Matt Moore's most recent percussion ensemble, HEXACHRON, as performed by the Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) Percussion Ensemble.


Stephen F. Austin State University, Dr. Brad Meyer, director

Hexachron channels the raw energy and intricate architecture of progressive metal through the lens of chamber percussion ensemble. While the bulk of the piece is written in 6/4, that meter is rarely felt straight-ahead. Instead, it’s refracted through layered polyrhythms, rhythmic illusions, and constantly shifting subdivisions that destabilize the listener’s sense of time - yet somehow regularly lock into a groove that feels instinctively right.

The harmonic language leans bright but unstable, embracing sharp dissonances, tritone-rich sonorities, and unexpected modulations that echo the genre’s love for contrast and surprise. At its heart, Hexachron is a deconstruction of rhythmic perception—a piece where time bends, pulses collide, and six never quite feels like six.

Hexachron channels the raw energy and intricate architecture of progressive metal through the lens of chamber percussion ensemble. While the bulk of the piece is written in 6/4, that meter is rarely felt straight-ahead. Instead, it’s refracted through layered polyrhythms, rhythmic illusions, and constantly shifting subdivisions that destabilize the listener’s sense of time - yet somehow regularly lock into a groove that feels instinctively right.

Composer Spotlight: Michael Crawford

DR. MICHAEL CRAWFORD is an active musician, educator, and adjudicator based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area metroplex. He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of North Texas (UNT) where he teaches the Percussion Methods course for undergraduate music education majors and supervises band student teachers. Dr. Crawford holds a B.M. [...]

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Featured Video: FIVE MORE MINUTES by John Tadlock

FIVE MORE MINUTES is a groovy duet for two battery percussionists with mirrored instrumentation. Starting with interlocking clapping patterns, the piece seamlessly moves from texture to texture, section to section, while keeping the audience's toe-tapping attention. While programming my master’s recital, I ended up being exactly five minutes short of the required length. So, rather than [...]

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Composer Spotlight: Aubrey Simmons

AUBREY SIMMONS is currently the Director of Bands at the Bradwell Institute in Hinesville, Georgia. Originally from Mount Olive, North Carolina, Aubrey attended North Carolina Central University where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Ethnomusicology. He also has some Masters of Music in Conducting credit from Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. During his [...]

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Composer Spotlight: Bradley Baird

Born in Texarkana, Texas, BRADLEY BAIRD is an avid educator, composer, and performer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Bradley Baird is the newly appointed Assistant Band Director and Percussion Director for Cypress Falls High School in Houston, Texas. ⁠He is a recent alumnus of Texas Christian University where he earned a Master of Music [...]

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Featured Video: BLACK WIDOW by Bradley Baird

BLACK WIDOW is a chamber percussion ensemble for Solo Snare Drum accompanied by Marimba Quartet. The first deadly spider that comes to mind for many people is the black widow spider. Its daunting characteristics and portrayal in pop culture makes it widely known and recognized. While brainstorming titles for this work, I was (un)fortunate enough to [...]

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Featured Video: ImPULSE by Austin Franklin

ImPULSE for percussion quartet was written for an aleatoric set of non-pitched percussion instruments, chosen by the performers according to only a few instructions given in the score. The piece is composed in two parts, held together by a somewhat constant quarter note pulse, from which the title is derived. This pulse grows in intensity [...]

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Featured Video: Payload by Adam Bruce

PAYLOAD is an energetic chamber piece for six percussionists, cello, and contrabass. Inspired by the sheer power and driving force produced by the rocket boosters for a space shuttle launch, it portrays a mixture of experiences one might have while taking off, leaving the atmosphere, and the suspension of gravity.Performed by members of the University [...]

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Composer Spotlight: Dave Hall

DAVE HALL is Associate Professor of Percussion and coordinator of the percussion program at the University of Nebraska. Under his direction, the University of Nebraska Percussion Ensemble was selected to perform a showcase concert at PASIC in both 2019 and 2016 as winners of the Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition (IPEC). Before his [...]

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Featured Video: Photovoltaic by Matthew Kilby

PHOTOVOLTAIC is an ethereal, yet catchy percussion ensemble piece that uses a diverse harmonic pallet and intense metric interplay. The piece depicts the quantum mechanical interaction between photons and electrons that could power our society’s future.

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