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Directed by Andrew Bliss
Kevin Zetina, Assistant Director
Marc Mellits, Composer-in-Residence
Ian Alward, Graduate Assistant
Eli Garcia, Graduate Assistant
Grant Gordon, Graduate Assistant
Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall,
Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
JULIA WOLFE
Dark Full Ride (2002)
ANNA MEADORS
Interstice (2018)
PETER GARLAND
Apple Blossom (1972)
MARC MELLITS
Tapas (2022)
*Consortium Premiere
- Movement I
- Movement II
- Movement III
- Movement IV
- Movement V
- Movement VI
- Movement VII
- Movement VIII
Dark Full Ride
Julia Wolfe’s music is distinguished by an intense physicality and a relentless power that pushes performers to extremes and demands attention from the audience. She draws inspiration from folk, classical, and rock genres, bringing a modern sensibility to each while simultaneously tearing down the walls between them.
Wolfe’s Her Story, a 45-minute semi-staged work for orchestra and women’s chamber choir, received its world premiere on September 15, 2022 with the Nashville Symphony and conductor Giancarlo Guerrero. Co-commissioned by a consortium of five American orchestras, all performances feature the vocal ensemble Lorelei, with stage direction by Anne Kauffman, lighting design by Jeff Sugg, costumes by Márion Talán de la Rosa, and sound design by Andrew Cotton. The world premiere is followed by performances in the 2022-23 season from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (January 6–7), Boston Symphony Orchestra (March 16–18), and San Francisco Symphony (May 25–27); dates with additional commissioner National Symphony Orchestra will be announced at a later date. Her Story invokes the words of historical figures and the spirit of pivotal moments to pay tribute to the centuries of ongoing struggle for equal rights and representation for women in America.
Other recent works include Fire in my mouth (2019), a large-scale work for orchestra and women’s chorus, commissioned/premiered by the New York Philharmonic with The Crossing and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City; Forbidden Love (2019), a string quartet performed by percussionists, written for Sō Percussion and co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the LA Philharmonic, and the Kennedy Center; and Flower Power (2020), a concerto for the Bang on a Can All-Stars co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Danish National Symphony.
In addition to receiving the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in Music, Wolfe was a 2016 MacArthur Fellow. She received the 2015 Herb Alpert Award in Music, and was named Musical America’s 2019 Composer of the Year. Julia Wolfe is co-founder/co-artistic director of New York’s legendary music collective Bang on a Can, and she is Artistic Director of NYU Steinhardt Music Composition.
In regards to Dark Full Ride Wolfe states, “When Talujon Percussion Quartet asked me to write a piece for 4 percussionists I immediately thought of the drums. I am a long time fan of drummers and their ability to play simultaneously with both hands and feet, so I thought why not four of them? I went to David Cossin’s studio to try out ideas. When we got to the hi-hat I became mesmerized. It’s an amazing instrument – 2 cymbals crashing together by means of a foot pedal and struck from above. It produces an enormous range of shimmering colors. Just opening and closing the cymbals allow for symphonic possibilities. You can play the cymbals on the edge, play on the bell (top), roll, attack, be delicate, and my favorite – make the hi-hat roar. The first 7 minutes of the piece are entirely on hi-hats. Then I add in cymbals. That’s where the title of the piece comes from – it was printed on the back of one of the ride cymbals. From there the piece spreads out to the drums, eventually leading to a cacophony of conflicting pounding speeds on the whole drum set. Towards the end of Dark Full Ride the four players are playing beats at different tempos while speeding up and slowing down relative to each other”.
Interstice
Anna Meadors is a composer, saxophonist, and producer. Her music is inspired by nature walks and small details, birds, slightly uneven pulses, the buzzy stillness of bodies of water, and joyful improvisation. Her saxophone playing has been described as “potently feral” (American Pancake) and “sprawling across the walls and dripping onto the floor all John Zorn-like” (Outside Left). She has compositions on albums by Party of One (Madefor records), clarinetist Andy Hudson (Potenza Records), percussionist Evan Chapman, and Consortium Works (people places records). As a saxophonist, she is lead soloist in the jazz-rock trio Joy on Fire, which has been called “a thrill of high voltage jazz 'n' roll” (All About Jazz) and has been featured twice on Bob Boilen’s All Songs Considered, NPR. Anna has engineered and co-produced the last three Joy on Fire albums (Procrastination Records), has filmed and edited two of their recent music videos, and is currently working on a solo saxophone and electronics album.She graduated from Peabody Conservatory with a B.M. in saxophone performance, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with an M.M. in Composition, and is currently finishing up her Ph.D. at Princeton University in Music Composition.
Apple Blossom
Apple Blossom belies the primitive notion that percussion music has to be loud. Based on a single 13-note chord, the music develops through changes in density. Four players around a single marimba weave a seamless sound that grows from nothing and dies away to less. The title comes from a line in Andre Breton’s poem, “On me dit que labas.”
Peter Garland studied with Harold Budd and James Tenney at Cal Arts and has had long student-mentor friendships with Lou Harrison, Conlon Nancarrow, Paul Bowles and the late Dane Rudhyar. He edited and published "Soundings Press" for twenty years, and has written two books of essays on American music and culture. He has been a lifelong student of Native American music, and has lived in New Mexico, California, Maine, Michoacan, Oaxaca and Puebla. His musical works after 1971 were marked by a return to a radical consonance and a simplification of formal structure influenced by Cage, Harrison, early minimalism and an interest in world music. He has written pieces for pianists Aki Takahashi and Herbert Henck, percussionists William Winant and Chris Shultis, accordionist Guy Klucesvek, the Abel-Steinberg-Winant Trio and the Kronos Quartet.
Tapas
Marc Mellits is one of the leading American composers of his generation, enjoying hundreds of performances throughout the world every year, making him one of the most performed living composers in the United States. From Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, to prestigious music festivals in Europe and the US, Mellits’ music is a constant mainstay on programs throughout the world. His unique musical style is an eclectic combination of driving rhythms, soaring lyricism, and colorful orchestrations that all combine to communicate directly with the listener. Mellits' music is often described as being visceral, making a deep connection with the audience. “This was music as sensual as it was intelligent; I saw audience members swaying, nodding, making little motions with their hands” (New York Press). He started composing very early, and was writing piano music long before he started formal piano lessons at age 6. He went on to study at the Eastman School of Music, Yale School of Music, Cornell University, and Tanglewood. Mellits often is a miniaturist, composing works that are short, contrasting movements or sections. His music is eclectic, all-encompassing, colorful, and always has a sense of forward motion.
Mellits' music has been played by major ensembles across the globe and he has been commissioned by groups such as the Kronos Quartet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Holland), Duo Assad, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Eliot Fisk, Canadian Brass, Nexus Percussion, Debussy Quartet, Third Coast Percussion, Real Quiet, New Music Detroit, Four-In-Correspondence (National Symphony Orchestra), Musique En Roue Libre (France), Fiarì Ensemble (Italy), Percussions Claviers de Lyon (France), Talujon, the Society for New Music, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, and the Albany Symphony's Dog's Of Desire. Additionally, Mellits’ music has been performed, toured, and/or recorded by members of the Detroit Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Minneapolis Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, eighth blackbird, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New Millennium Ensemble, Da Capo Chamber Players, and the American Modern Ensemble, among many others.
On film, Mellits has composed numerous scores, including the PBS mini-series “Beyond The Light Switch” which won a 2012 Dupont-Columbia award, the most prestigious award in documentaries. Mellits also directs and plays keyboards in his own unique ensemble, the Mellits Consort. He was awarded the prestigious 2004 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award. On CD, there are over 50 recorded works of Mellits' music that can be found on Black Box, Endeavour Classics, Cantaloupe, CRI/Emergency Music, Santa Fe New Music, Innova, & Dacia Music. Marc Mellits is an Associate Professor of music at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two daughters, and spends significant time in Romania.
“Tapas” is in eight short movements all working together to a large extent like a baroque suite. The individual lines fit closely together much like the pieces of a puzzle, each instrument relying on each other to fill in the spaces. My task was to create a work that allowed for short “tastes” of different musical ideas that still worked together creating a larger whole. The music itself should speak directly, creating a sound world unique to itself. Tapas was commissioned by “Musique en Roue Libre” and is dedicated to the French cellist Fabrice Bihan. The original version, which this edition is based on, is for String Trio was premiered in August 2007 in Hendecourt-les-Cagnicourt, during a two-week festival of the music of Mellits and Brahms.
Ian Alward – Owensboro, KY
Annika Blackburn – Rogersville, TN
Ethan Booher – Knoxville, TN
Tyler Delaney – Kenosha, WI
Siena Fulton – Knoxville, TN
Chang Gao – Beijing, China
Grant Gordon – Harvest, AL
Eli Garcia – El Paso, TX
Trik Gass – Branson, MO
Caleb Hupp – San Diego, CA
Burke Rivet – Seymour, TN
Zac Swafford – Dayton, TN
Marc Mellits is one of the leading American composers of his generation, enjoying hundreds of performances throughout the world every year, making him one of the most performed living composers in the United States. From Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, to prestigious music festivals in Europe and the US, Mellits’ music is a constant mainstay on programs throughout the world. His unique musical style is an eclectic combination of driving rhythms, soaring lyricism, and colorful orchestrations that all combine to communicate directly with the listener. Mellits' music is often described as being visceral, making a deep connection with the audience. “This was music as sensual as it was intelligent; I saw audience members swaying, nodding, making little motions with their hands” (New York Press). He started composing very early, and was writing piano music long before he started formal piano lessons at age 6. He went on to study at the Eastman School of Music, Yale School of Music, Cornell University, and Tanglewood. Mellits often is a miniaturist, composing works that are short, contrasting movements or sections. His music is eclectic, all-encompassing, colorful, and always has a sense of forward motion.
Mellits' music has been played by major ensembles across the globe and he has been commissioned by groups such as the Kronos Quartet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Holland), Duo Assad, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Eliot Fisk, Canadian Brass, Nexus Percussion, Debussy Quartet, Third Coast Percussion, Real Quiet, New Music Detroit, Four-In-Correspondence (National Symphony Orchestra), Musique En Roue Libre (France), Fiarì Ensemble (Italy), Percussions Claviers de Lyon (France), Talujon, the Society for New Music, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, and the Albany Symphony's Dog's Of Desire. Additionally, Mellits’ music has been performed, toured, and/or recorded by members of the Detroit Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Minneapolis Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, eighth blackbird, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New Millennium Ensemble, Da Capo Chamber Players, and the American Modern Ensemble, among many others.
On film, Mellits has composed numerous scores, including the PBS mini-series “Beyond The Light Switch” which won a 2012 Dupont-Columbia award, the most prestigious award in documentaries. Mellits also directs and plays keyboards in his own unique ensemble, the Mellits Consort. He was awarded the prestigious 2004 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award. On CD, there are over 50 recorded works of Mellits' music that can be found on Black Box, Endeavour Classics, Cantaloupe, CRI/Emergency Music, Santa Fe New Music, Innova, & Dacia Music. Marc Mellits is an Associate Professor of music at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two daughters, and spends significant time in Romania.
Andy Bliss is a solo artist, conductor, curator, and educator who maintains a dynamic career of musical collaboration. Residing in Knoxville, TN, his performances have been heard locally at the Tennessee Theatre and the Square Room, and abroad in locations such as the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music (Germany), the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), the Patagonia Percussion Festival (Argentina), the LiveWire Festival in Baltimore, and Stanford’s Cantor Center for Visual Arts.
His repertoire ranges from 20th-century masterworks by John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, and Steve Reich, to the performance and advocacy of contemporary composers such as John Luther Adams, David Lang, and Mark Applebaum. His passion for new music has propelled Andy to collaborate on new works with a wide range of today’s leading composers and musicians such as Christopher Adler, Christopher Burns, Evan Chapman, David Crowell, Nicholas Deyoe, Marc Mellits, Lewis Nielson, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir, among many others.
Last season, Andy returned to Knoxville’s Big Ears Festival, revisiting John Luther Adams’ Four Thousand Holes with the nief-norf Project and performing Become Ocean with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra; joined Atlanta’s Chamber Cartel for an evening-length performance of Iannis Xenakis’ Pleaides at the Goat Farm Arts Center; presented the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) International Convention’s New Literature Showcase Concert; appeared in solo recitals at the McCormick Marimba Festival in Tampa, FL and the statewide PAS Day of Percussion in Illinois; and collaborated in Lexington, KY with Dieter Hennings and an all-star cast on a performance of Pierre Boulez’s Le Marteau sans maître.
In the 2016-17 season, Andy will perform on double tenors in Brooklyn’s Panorama with the Crossfire Steel Orchestra; curates the PASIC Focus Day “Celebrating the European Avant-Garde,” a 6-concert event over two days; performs Jennifer Higdon’s percussion concerto under the composer’s baton; conducts the Eastern United States premiere of Mark Applebaum’s Rabbit Hole; directs a performance of Michael Pisaro’s Hearing Metal 3; and performs the world premiere of Constellations by Christopher Burns, an evening-length work for solo percussion and multimedia, written for Bliss.
Andy has made a practice of regularly working with younger composers, performers, and scholars, encouraging inquisitive modes of musical questioning and sustained collaboration with future generations. He is the Artistic Director of nief-norf, whose summer festival is now in its seventh year; there he performs, teaches, and conducts while curating a dozen concerts annually. The festival serves as a yearly contemporary music retreat, where more than fifty international participants enjoy an immersive environment of collaboration, experimentation, and support. Additionally, since 2011, Andy has served as the Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Tennessee, where he founded the Ensemble Knox (resident chamber percussion group), the UT Contemporary Music Ensemble, and the UT Contemporary Music Festival.
A devoted music educator, Andy has presented recitals, lectures, and master classes at the Northern Illinois University New Music Festival, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy (NCPP), Association for Technology in Music Instruction’s (ATMI) National Conference, and the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic, and has held residencies at the Universities of Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, South Carolina, and many others. He currently serves the Percussive Arts Society as a member of the New Music Research committee and is Past President of the PAS Tennessee Chapter. Bliss has served on the adjudication jury for both the Music for All National Percussion Festival and the PAS International Percussion Ensemble Competition, and his method book Multitudes (Innovative Percussion) is a widely used pedagogical resource nationally. As a member of the Knoxville community, Bliss spends two weeks annually touring his Steelband and Brazilian Ensemble to Knox County public schools, fusing live performance with cultural and historical community engagement.
A native of Milan, IL, Andy’s percussion studies were mentored by James Campbell, Rich Holly, Robert Chappell, Orlando Cotto, Liam Teague, Cliff Alexis, and the Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps. He is proud to be a Yamaha Performing Artist and thanks Zildjian, Innovative Percussion, Evans, Black Swamp, and Meinl Percussion for their generous support and sponsorships. When not performing or with his students, Andy can be found consuming as much baseball as possible––either watching the Chicago Cubs on television, or playing a game of backyard catch with his wife Erin, and their son, Donovan.
Kevin Zetina is a passionate performer, composer, and arranger of all things contemporary whether it be performing seminal works of the last century, premiering or writing brand new works, or arranging heavy metal music for contemporary classical ensembles. He has performed with members of Eighth Blackbird, Ensemble Signal, the JACK Quartet, and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. As a performer, Kevin is a percussionist with multitudes of experience in contemporary music. Having grown up as a guitarist focused on various sorts of death metal, Kevin has always been drawn to music that is experimental in nature. In this effort to push experimentation in music Kevin started the first student-run new music ensemble at the Yale School of Music: Versicolor. The group champions composers who would otherwise be underrepresented and provides a space for contemporary music at Yale. Kevin has played frequently with the Austin based contemporary chamber music group, Density 512. Currently he champions a diverse array of contemporary music through his direction of the University of Tennessee Percussion Ensemble.
Kevin currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Percussion at the University of Tennessee Knoxville where he teaches applied lessons to percussion majors and directs the UT Percussion Ensemble. Outside of collegiate teaching he has worked with students at all levels on instruments including drum-set, percussion, guitar, and piano. He has taught private percussion lessons for undergraduate students at Yale College and high school students at the Cheshire Academy, a private college preparatory boarding school in Connecticut. His students at Yale College, all of whom were non-music majors, have excelled comparably to conservatory students through winning spots at summer music festivals as well as the College Band Director's National Association's Intercollegiate Band. Kevin has also worked with high school students in Texas as a Marching Percussion Instructor and has guided many young percussionists as a private lesson teacher throughout the Round Rock/Leander area. While there, he coached the Walsh MS Honor Band as they were invited to perform at the Midwest Clinic.
Kevin holds a BM from the Eastman School of Music with the Howard Hanson Scholarship where he studied with Michael Burritt, and he earned his MM and MMA degrees from Yale University as a Havemeyer Scholarship recipient under Robert van Sice.
Originally from Owensboro, Kentucky, Ian is a percussionist and music educator based in Knoxville, Tennessee. He earned his Bachelors of Music degree in Music Education from Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro, TN). While In Middle Tennessee he taught marching percussion and percussion ensembles at Oakland High School, Siegel High School, and Franklin High School.
As a performer Ian has been seen at the national level on several different stages. Ian has been heavily involved in the marching arts performing with world class ensembles such as Music City Mystique and Carolina Crown. Outside of the marching arts Ian has also performed with Lalo Davila in his Salsa Bands and won an audition with the 129th Army Band.
As an educator Ian is still heavily involved in the marching arts as he currently works with world class ensembles Music City Drum Corps and Audio Theater.
A native of El Paso Texas, Eli Garcia is a Performer, Educator, and Arranger currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Percussion Performance at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. He serves as the Pride of the Southland drumline graduate teaching assistant. Having received his Bachelor's degree in Music Education from The University of Texas at El Paso, Eli has been an active member of the West Texas Percussion community since 2017 by teaching at Bel Air, Franklin, Eastwood, Pebble Hills, and Hanks High Schools.
His performance experience covers a broad spectrum of percussion literature. Starting in the summer of 2016 he was a member of the Academy Drum and Bugle Corps playing tenors for four consecutive years, holding leadership positions in 2018 and 2019, and was a DCI Finalist for the 2016 season. His experience in the University setting has allowed him to perform chamber works, large ensemble material, and solo literature across all areas of percussion. His involvement in the Drum Corps arena extends beyond performing and since 2021 has been a Battery Technician at Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps. Working with other educators in the Austin Texas area has allowed him to expand his view and styles of teaching to help foster the musical development of other students.
Grant Gordon is a percussion performer, educator, and composer with a passion for collaborating with other musicians. He currently serves as the percussion department studio graduate teaching assistant. He is particularly interested in percussion keyboard music, contemporary chamber ensemble literature, and rudimental percussion. Grant graduated from Auburn University with a Bachelor’s in Percussion Performance under Dr. Douglas Rosener and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Percussion Performance at UTK.
Grant has studied works from Louis Andriessen, Viet Cuong, Steve Reich, Eric Sammut, Baljinder Sekhon, Evan Williams, John Psathas, Kaija Saariaho, and Iannis Xenakis. He was recently (2022) able to perform movements from Amid the Noise by So Percussion with So Percussion and Kronos Quartet at the Big Ears Music Festival in Knoxville, TN. Grant teaches percussion techniques and indoor drumline at Seymour High School in Sevier County, TN. Grant has taught percussion band camps at Auburn High School, Seymour High School, and Sparkman High School.
The University of Tennessee Percussion Ensemble, directed by Andrew Bliss, is devoted to performing, recording, and commissioning works for the contemporary percussion group. With this mission, the ensemble places an emphasis on collaboration with performers and composers alike.
During the 2019-20 season the ensemble put together a completely improvised concert with guest artist Mike Gould while also recording Evan Chapman’s Honeybee, 1820, which they commissioned and premiered. In Spring 2018, UTPE collaborated with Michael Gordon and the Bang on a Can All-Stars on the US Premiere of his work Big Space at the Big Ears Festival, while working remotely with composer Alexander Lunsqui on his percussion quartet Yazz. Throughout the 2016-17 season, the group appeared at the Big Ears Festival performing alongside composer Michael Pisaro; collaborated with Jessica Aszodi on a performance of Györgi Ligeti’s Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedüvel for mezzo-soprano and four percussionists; performed Steve Reich’s Drumming at the Knoxville 225th Birthday Celebration in Knoxville’s Krutch Park; and presented a concert featuring the rarely heard music of Michael Maierhof and Simon Løffler at Knoxville’s Arts & Culture Alliance, in collaboration with percussionists Brian Archinal, Henrik Larsen, and Greg Stuart.
Earlier in 2016, the ensemble led a performance of John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit to close the 2016 Big Ears Festival at Knoxville’s Ijams Nature Center which received critical acclaim from multiple press outlets. UTPE has also appeared twice at the McCormick Marimba Festival in Tampa, FL where they gave the world premiere of David Crowell’s Music for Percussion Quartet, as well as Alejandro Viñao’s 3-movement trio Relative Riffs. Other memorable collaborations for the ensemble include working with Jennifer Higdon on her latest 12-player composition Like Clockwork; performing Gravity for Marc Mellits on campus; the commission and premiere of Evan Chapman’s night light(ning); and the world premiere of Matthew Burtner’s telematic opera Auksalaq in Indianapolis, IN with performers from around the globe.
UTPE performed the New Literature Showcase Concert at the 2015 Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) in San Antonio, TX, were featured performers at the 2017 PASIC Focus Day, and most recently won the 2018 PAS International Percussion Ensemble Competition leading to a PASIC Showcase Concert in Indianapolis, IN. The ensemble has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with some of the top percussionists in the field today, including Kendall Williams, Mike Mixtacki, Michael Burritt, Josh Quillen, Anders Åstrand, Andy Smith, Robert Chappell, Mike Gould, and Evaristo Aguilar.
The University of Tennessee Percussion Ensemble would like to thank Yamaha, Zildjian, Innovative Percussion, Evans Drumheads, Black Swamp Percussion, and Meinl Percussion for their continued support of Andrew Bliss and the University of Tennessee Percussion Studies program.
We hope you enjoyed this performance. Private support from music enthusiasts enables us to improve educational opportunities and develop our student artists’ skills to their full potential. To learn more about how you can support the School of Music, contact Chris Cox, Director of Development, 865-974-2365 or ccox@utfi.org.