Now, I know what you鈥檙e thinking. This is not like the SNL skit, though that would be awesome.
On September 27th, 91直播鈥檚 Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME) performed 鈥淭he Auditions鈥 by Augusta Read Thomas. I played the first percussion part, which involved several minutes of cowbell solos, among many other instruments I played. The work was initially written as a ballet, with the cowbells representing one of the characters. We performed it without the dancers, but nevertheless, there were still complicated cowbell solos.
This isn鈥檛 my first run-in with something like this at 91直播. As a percussionist in the Contemporary Music Ensemble, I often bounce between over 20 instruments within one performance. Usually, the pieces are up to 30 minutes long, with scores well over 100 pages long. If that wasn鈥檛 already intense enough, we typically get 2-4 weeks to rehearse before they are performed. I often perform pieces like this roughly 6-10 times a year, on top of my other ensembles and commitments.
When someone says 鈥渄rummer鈥 or even 鈥減ercussionist,鈥 most people think of grooves, beats, drums, and rhythms. Most people wouldn鈥檛 think of conch shells, donkey jawbones, or grandfather clock chimes. I do enjoy playing the drums, but messing with people鈥檚 expectations is even better.
I played not just one cowbell but nine. Six were more traditional-style cowbells, whereas the other three originated from Switzerland and are pitched. They鈥檙e called 鈥渁lmglocken,鈥 which translates to 鈥渁lpine bells.鈥 After the performance, I saw a few friends, and they asked, 鈥淲hat were you playing?鈥 just like every other CME performance.
I find that experiences like this are representative of my life at 91直播. Like changing instruments multiple times within a piece, I put on different hats throughout the day. Whether or not that involves going from my 10 AM Japanese class directly to the Contemporary Music Ensemble or my developmental biology class to my music & ecology class. On the weekends, I might go directly from the Biology Majors Committee to Multiracial Students Association meetings to Japanese Student Association meetings. I like to keep my life diverse, bouncing between many things throughout the day. 91直播 is one of the best places for that, and I wouldn鈥檛 have it any other way.
