'Friday the 13th' percussion concert offers surprises on April 13

Thursday, April 5, 2007

 

When the 13th of the month lands on a Friday, you expect a day that's definitely different, if not strange and bizarre. Purdue's Drumline and Percussion Ensembles intend to enhance the day's reputation in its 2007 percussion spectacular "Friday the 13th " at 8 p.m., you guessed it, Friday, April 13, in Loeb Playhouse of the Purdue Stewart Center .

 

Admission to the concert is free.

 

Featuring tunes with intriguing titles like "Death by Oooga Booga," "Quadzilla," "Football Ugg" and Barnyard Boogie," the concert will take the audience from percussion's zaniest moments to its most serious. At several different points the audience will also become part of the show.

 

"Our annual concerts are really a reflection of my personality," says Purdue percussion instructor Pamela Nave, who loves musical challenges and also loves to laugh. Audiences have come to anticipate the wide range of styles found at the annual concert as well as the event's traditionally splashy opener.

 

The "Friday the 13th " opener will be "Apache," the favorite dance tune of the Purdue Women's Basketball Team, and will involve the audience in its antics. Nave, who also directs the Women's Basketball Band, created the special arrangement for the opener.

 

From that point on, audiences won't know what to expect, Nave says. One moment, the musicians will be serious and intense, performing such classic works as "Night in Tunisia " or " Madagascar " or "Uneven Souls" which features Kokomo junior Bonyea Killebrew on marimba.

 

Then there's "Death by Oooga Booga," a rock piece for percussion filled with "chanting, marimba patterns and loud drumming. It's very exciting because it's fast," Nave says. Or there's "Barnyard Boogie." Nave won't say too much about that one except that "it's hilarious, you have to watch it," and that is does involve a variety of animals - cats, dogs, cows, sheep, horses, you name it.

 

"Football Ugg" is an original piece Nave created for the show. For it, audience volunteers will don football shoulder pads and helmets, lent by the Purdue team, and drummers will tap out tunes on the gear. At designated spots, the human instruments will be called upon to add their talents to the musical fun.

 

Two of Nave's students have also written pieces which will be premiered at the show. Matt Bowers, a sophomore from Elizabethton , TN , who plays with the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps in the summer, created "Quadzilla," a tenor solo. "Matt's amazing. He's played so much, he knows how to write and structure music to make sense. The end product is fantastic and you can walk away singing the melody of his tune," Nave says.

 

Bass drummer Dan Stout, a senior from Palatine , IL , showcases his talent in "ACU" which is short for " Ask Clown University ."

All the percussionists in "Friday the 13th " perform with the "All-American" Marching Band or in other bands or the department's orchestra. Purdue University Bands & Orchestra sponsors the event.

---