A Valentine’s Weekend Display of Percussion Performances

Valentine’s Day is typically celebrated with a romantic candle-lit dinner, a box of indulgent dark chocolates, and a night of seducing your paramour.

For those present at the Manhattan Percussion Project this past weekend, however, the days were filled with progressive percussion performances and elaborate lectures by world-famous composers.

Organized to unite the community of Morningside Heights as well as to showcase talent from NYU, the Manhattan School of Music, Queens College, Julliard, Mannes College, SUNY Purchase, and William Patterson University, the free event featured four concerts of the works of composers Gustavo Aguilar, David Lang, and Alberto Ginastera. It culminated with the much-anticipated world premiere of Aguilar’s composition, Not Knowing the Cart Got in Front.

This world premiere clearly stood out as the weekend highlight. The full stage, equipped with drums of different sizes and rare percussion instruments from around the world, was soon filled with student performers who managed to create a unique, resonating sound that boomed throughout the concert hall.

Percussionists began to walk down aisles, using bows to glide against drum cymbals, and producing a shrill, booming, space-like sound. “Aguilar produced a revolutionary piece which was able to create an innovative sound unparalleled to any percussion piece right now,” said Manhattan School of Music student Kyle Ritenauer, a percussionist in Alberto Ginastera’s ensemble.

Like Aguilar’s piece, David Lang’s The So-Called Laws of Nature focused on improvisation. But rather than featuring a large ensemble, Lang’s piece featured four Manhattan School of Music students dressed in pastels. Another difference between the two performances was that while Aguilar’s use of improvisation created eccentric, new ways of producing music, Lang’s lacked fluidity and cohesion.

Although Ritenauer explained that the music was structured so that “the composer verbally told them [the musicians] where to go and minute details were up to the players,” the musicians generally reproduced the same sound and rarely improvised. Lang’s work shone through at the end of the composition when the performers decided to add their own embellishments.

The Manhattan School of Music continued to host its weekly discussions with famous composers for the public this weekend. Yet because of the percussion project event, the audience was much larger than normal. “There was an overwhelming amount of new people listening, many of them famous percussionists themselves. The room was filled with famous percussionists from sixty years ago when the [percussion] repertoire wasn’t established. They talked about how it started to advance to a level of playing that started a new music movement, untouched in the music area and is totally contemporary,” said Ritenauer.

Overall, Ritenauer’s experience, as well as the experience of those in attendance, was shaped by the musical contribution of each of the participating schools. “Each school’s percussion varied. [At Manhattan School of Music] we focus on orchestral music, but at NYU for example, they are more well-rounded, but not as sculpted in orchestral music. It brought together the community of students and ultimately resulted in a great performance,” he said.

As couples sweet-talked each other and went out for romantic dinners, the Manhattan Percussion Project provided a different, albeit eclectic Valentine’s Day alternative for the community (and single people) to enjoy themselves—as well as get the same return as receiving a box of chocolates on this love-filled holiday, without all of the calories.