Stacey Ramirez, director
Percussion Ensemble
The Percussion Ensemble performs an array of music written expressly for all types of percussion instruments. Musical selections range from chamber works for a few performers to works using large forces and many instruments. The group performs a wide variety of literature including historically significant works; contemporary trends in percussion ensemble literature; world music; elements of popular music; and brand new works for percussion. The group presents a fall and spring semester concert.
Prerequisite: For beginning to advanced percussionists who read music.
Steel Pan Ensemble
Steel drum bands, a trademark of the Caribbean, are rapidly growing in popularity in the United States. These bands originated in Trinidad where groups participating in Carnival activities played on paint cans and oil barrels, which have tuned areas beaten into their surfaces. The various sets of drums, which are constructed by hand from 55-gallon oil drums, comprise a family of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices. Since their creation, steel drum construction has become a highly developed art form. Today, the "pan" is a legitimate, versatile instrument capable of expressing delicate passages in classical music as well as in traditional upbeat calypso marches and popular dance music.
Prerequisite: For beginning to advanced musicians having played any instrument and read music. You do not have to be a percussionist to play in the steel band. However, you need to be able to read music in treble or bass clef. There are a few openings in the “engine room” where the percussionists do not have to be able to read music.
Marimba Ensemble
This ensemble performs an assortment of music for mallet instruments including interpretations and transcriptions of baroque, classical, and contemporary literature and music that represents the "golden age" of the marimba and xylophone bands from the "roaring twenties."
Prerequisite: An ensemble for beginning to advanced musicians who read music in treble and/or bass clef.