Local musicians perform with world renowned percussionist Evelyn Glennie

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The world famous percussionist, Dame Evelyn Glennie, was at Southern Illinois University for a four-day clinic which concluded with a performance with the SIU-C Wind Ensemble Monday March 7 at Shryock Auditorium.

Jimmy Beers and Jeff Beers, members of the select Wind Ensemble at SIU, had the opportunity of a lifetime to perform alongside Glennie at the two-hour concert which featured several of the SIU professors and the 38-member Wind Ensemble.

Music Department staff who performed with the Wind Ensemble included Dr. Douglas Worthen, piccolo and flute, Dr. Melissa Mackey, bassoon, Professor Jennifer Presar, horn, and Ms. Anita Hutton, piano.

For Jimmy Beers it was especially unique as he is a Percussion Major at SIU in Music Performance. Beers equated the experience to a high school or college baseball player, football player or basketball player being able to work out or compete alongside professional athletes.

Jeff Beers, a freshman Tuba Performance Major in the SIU-C School of Music, had his first opportunity to appear with a famous musician in the concert, and both Jimmy and Jeff learned a lot working with Glennie during her four-day visit to SIU.

Glennie is thought to be the first person in musical history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist. She is constantly redefining the goals and expectations of percussion. Her performances have such vitality that they almost constitute a new type of performance.

Evelyn Glennie has commissioned more than 160 new works for solo percussion from many of the world's most distinguished percussionists and she gives more than 100 performances a year worldwide. She has 26 solo recordings, one of which won her a Grammy Award in 1998. She has further earned additional Grammy nominations.

In addition to performing percussion, Glennie has worked lobbying with the Government on several political issues, especially for music education in the United States. She also owns an Evelyn Glennie line of jewelry.

Finally, Glennie serves as a motivational speaker. Glennie is severely hearing impaired and writes, performs and conducts her Master Percussion Classes simply by feeling the vibrations from the other musicians and by closely observing the conductor and her fellow musicians. Her teaching and master class activities are in great demand worldwide, which facilitates her ability to further explore the art of teaching and the world of sound therapy as a means of communication.

Glennie's high level of expertise and notoriety provided a "chance-of-a-lifetime" for Jimmy Beers to both learn from and perform alongside Glennie throughout the four-day visit from this world-famous percussionist.

The two-hour concert performed by Glennie and the SIU-C Wind Ensemble at Shryock Auditorium consisted of just four songs, three in the first half and one in the second half of the performance.

The first half of the concert featured the very exciting, fast-paced song, "Frenergy" (1988) by John Estacio (b. 1966), trans. Fraser Linklater. Evelyn Glennie and SIU trumpet professor, Robert Allison, then performed, "Born to Beat Wild", Op. 30 (2001), by Nebrojsa Zivkovic (b. 1962). In this most energetic piece Glennie played most of her percussion on bass drum using a variety of sticks, beaters and techniques.

The final performance of the first half of the concert featured a World Premiere (wind version) of the composition, "Prometheus Rapture: Seven Legends for Snare Drum" (2009) by Sean Beeson (b. 1985) with snare drum composer Adam Lochstampfor, arranger, Stefan Podell and producer, Brenton Dunnington.

In this performance Glennie played primarily snare drum with support from the SIU Wind Ensemble percussionists led by Beers who serves as the Principal Percussionist. The Wind Ensemble provided the accompaniment for the seven movements of the piece.

The seven movements included, "Theft of Fire", "Golden Metropolis", Vulcan's Forge", "Pandora Opens Her Gift", Vulture on the Morrow", Wrath of Zeus" and "Hope from Hercules". All seven movements were performed without pause. The World Premiere was considered to have been a huge success and was enjoyed by the sold-out audience at Shryock Auditorium.

Following a 15-minute intermission Glennie and the SIU Wind Ensemble returned to the stage to perform "Percussion Concerto" (1995) by Joseph Schwantner (b. 1943), trans. Andrew Boysen Jr. The piece was in three movements including, "Con forza", Misterioso" and Ritmico con brio".

The SIU Wind Ensemble was fantastic in its accompaniment of Glennie and her SIU percussion counterparts. The group as a whole was very well received and several standing ovations was indication of the acceptance of the performances throughout the evening.

Following the event there was a reception for Glennie and the Wind Ensemble at Altgeld Hall which is the home of the SIU-C Music Department. Both Jimmy Beers and Jeff Beers agreed that being able to perform alongside Dame Evelyn Glennie was one of the highlights of their school year to date and that they both learned a lot throughout the four-day experience.

The Wind Ensemble, which is under the direction of Dr. Christopher Morehouse, will be performing several times in the coming weeks of the spring semester including two special performances as part of the ordination of new Southern Illinois University Chancellor, Dr. Rita Cheng. The Wind Ensemble will travel to Springfield, Illinois Wednesday April 13 to perform at the Hoogland Center for the Arts and will continue their tour in Chicago the next night, Thursday April 14 when they perform at Chicago's famous Orchestra Hall. Cheng will be the special guest at both performances as part of her ordination.