Tuesday March 31, 2026
6:30pm
Kutztown University Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research

I’m excited to present a concert of solo and ensemble works that brings together standard repertoire with newly composed music. The program explores a wide range of sonic possibilities, including works that incorporate electronics: Ben Nobuto’s Three Studies for Vibraphone and Fixed Media and Arash Yazdani’s may contain choking hazard for percussion and looper pedal.

A featured set of works by Elliott Carter highlights two of his iconic pieces for solo timpani alongside the rarely performed marimba solo Figment V, offering a glimpse into his intricate and expressive writing for percussion. In recognition of the centenary of Morton Feldman, the program includes King of Denmark, a landmark work known for its distinctive graphic notation of boxes and numbers and its instruction that the performer play without mallets or sticks, creating a uniquely intimate sound world.

Rounding out the program are two of my own newly composed works for percussion ensemble. The first features found sounds chosen by the performers and the second a trio of vibraphones that explores the many timbres of the instrument. 

PROGRAM:
Ben Nobuto: Three Studies (2022)
     I Chroma
     II Value
     III Hue

Elliott Carter: Eight Pieces for Four Timpani (1966)
     VII Canaries
Elliott Carter: Figment V for marimba (2009)
Elliott Carter: Eight Pieces for Four Timpani (1966)
     VIII March

​Andy Thierauf: Composition for Metals No. 2 (2026)

Arash Yazdani: may contain choking hazard (2020)

Morton Feldman: King of Denmark (1964)

Andy Thierauf: Color Blocking in 5 Parts (2025)

PROGRAM NOTES

Ben Nobuto (b.1996) is a British/Japanese composer and pianist from Kent, UK, with a distinctive style variously described as ‘postmodern’ and ‘utterly contemporary.’ His music celebrates the fragmentations from internet and pop cultures that disrupt (enrich?) our lives, the video games we play to escape (narrate?) ourselves.  He writes about the work: “Three Studies is a simple piece about colour and form. I was thinking about the wall drawings of Sol LeWitt and the paintings of Mondrian, imagining clear blocks of colour slotting into place - something bright, intense and uniform. Each movement presents a single technique or sound in a straightforward, almost didactic way, as if the percussionist is teaching the listener how the instruments work.”

Composer Elliott Carter (1908 - 2012) is internationally recognized as one of the most influential American voices in classical music, and a leading figure of modernism in the 20th and 21st centuries. His iconic work Eight Pieces for Four Timpani has become standard repertoire for percussionists, each movement exploring different facets of the drums and their timbral possibilities. His signature use of metric modulation plays heavily into both movements on the program as well as the marimba solo.
Elliott Carter wrote this program note for the marimba solo: “This Figment for marimba solo was written in February 2009, as a present for the 17" birthday of my dear grandson Alexander, who is interested in percussion instruments.” 

Composition for Metals No. 2 is part of Andy Thierauf’s ongoing compositional exploration in creating single part works i.e. each performer plays from the same music and is given basic performance instructions. This work is for any number of players, each choosing five metal instruments with varying resonance. Similar to Terry Riley’s In C, performers move from repeated rhythmic cells at their own pace.

Arash Yazdani is an Iranian composer and conductor currently based in Estonia. His music explores the application of the acoustic and psycho-acoustic phenomena on the fabric of music, and creates unique hearing experiences with the use of instruments. may contain choking hazard is scored for any percussive instrument plus looping pedal which creates an ever-growing complex background for the solo instrument.

Morton Feldman studied composition with Wallingford Riegger and Stefan Wolpe but disagreed with their ideas. He later met John Cage in New York and they formed a lasting friendship and highly influenced each other. Feldman experimented with different types of notation including graphic notation which he used in “King of Denmark.” He especially liked quiet sounds and found them fascinating. Many of his pieces are quite long (up to 5 hours) and have a wispy quality. The title, King of Denmark, came from Christian X, the king of Denmark during the second world war, who wore a star of David as he walked down the streets as silent protest to Nazi Germany.  

Color Blocking in 5 Parts employs traditional and extended techniques as well as preparations on the vibraphone to create texturally varied vignettes. Preparations include sticky tack to detune bars and ball bearing chain to create a shimmering effect. Implements include mallets, bows, and wooden knitting needles.