Dressage Percussion

"The artistic appreciation of Guangzhou had been elevated by Dressage Percussion’s innovative performance."  - Yangcheng Evening News, Guangzhou, China
Through the combination of Dressage Percussion’s instrumentation, gesture, and all-around performance, the girls have demonstrated how music has become a part of our lifestyle.” -Yangcheng Evening News, Hong Kong

 


November 8, 2016                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Dressage received The Art of Chamber Music International Music Competition's First Prize! As a part of the 2016 Great Composers Competition, and for submitting our videos from below! 


Performed in Pollack Hall at McGill University by: Karen Yu, Austin Lamarche, Katelyn King

Inspired by Mauricio Kagel’s theatrical work, Dressur, the trio Dressage Percussion came together through the creative, collaborative, and unique process of forming their interpretation of Dressur in October of 2014 at McGill University. The members–Karen Yu, Austin Lamarche, and Katelyn King–all come from varying backgrounds of culture and education, but come together to champion new and historical theatrical works by composers such as Thierry De Mey, Georges Aperghis, and Mauricio Kagel. In Spring 2015, Dressage was honoured to work with Jean-Pierre Drouet, who, as member of Trio Le Cercle, worked closely with these prominent French composers to premiere influential theatrical percussion works. Based mainly in Montréal, part of Dressage’s mission is to tour these rarely performed works around the world. Dressage was recently awarded second prize in the McGill Sound Recording Competition, allowing the group to begin an on-going project of a video compilation of theatrical works such as Les Guetteurs de sons, Musique de Tables, and Dressur. In 2015, Dressage performed concerts in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, and presented Dressur in Transplanted Roots International Percussion Symposium. Even as a relatively newly formed group, Dressage has already commissioned a new piece by composer Zihua Tan, entitled Silent Spring, which received its premiere by the McGill Percussion Ensemble in April 2015. Dressage hopes to inspire musicians and non-musicians to question the borders between music and theatre, and to collaborate with composers to write new works for this medium.

Performed by Dressage Percussion at McGill University, 2015. 

Performers: Katelyn King (centre) Karen Yu (left) Austin Lamarche (right) Ryan Kelly (back of stage) Will Owen Bennett (back of hall: left) Colin Frank (back of hall: right) MGPE Directors: Aiyun Huang Fabrice Marandola Sound Engineer: Jordan Strum Camera Operators: David Raffety (video editor) Emi Shibata Stage Manager: Serge Filiatrault // - Title borrowed from Rachel Carson's book of the same name

Commissioned for the McGill Percussion Ensemble/Dressage Percussion, Silent Spring brings together the delicate features of percussive sounds as well as their visual elements. The composer Zihua Tan built new 'Duchamp' like instruments out of old stools and bicycle wheels, contrasting to the large Tam in the middle. 

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