Notable performances include the 2018 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis, Percussive Arts Society Ohio Chapter Days of Percussion at Capital University, Ohio Northern University, Youngstown State University, and Ohio Music Education Association Conferences in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. A central part of our mission involves collaborations with composers in the commissioning, premiering, and critically acclaimed recording of their works. Our 2005 release "Dark Wood" includes six premiere recordings and commissions. Our commission project with New York City-based percussionist/composer John Hollenbeck on his "Ziggurat" for five percussionists and four saxophonists, was premiered at the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City, and is available on his 2008 release "Rainbow Jimmies." The Youngstown Percussion Collective's 2012 release "Forms Of Things Unknown" is a concert-length suite by YSU professor of jazz studies, bass, and composition, Dr. Dave Morgan. Our 2012 recording of Ron Coulter's "Cajon Trio" will appear on an upcoming 2019 Coulter CD release.
Mvts. I, IV, III
Novotney’s Scratch features four players playing scrapers or guiros. Eugene Novotney was raised in Mentor Ohio and experienced jazz, classical, and symphonic repertoire as a young child but soon became heavily influenced by Motown and the sound of rock & roll. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, he chose to continued his studies at the University of Illinois where earned the Master of Music and Doctorate of Musical Arts. Eugene is Professor and Director of Percussion Studies at Humbolt State University in Arcata California. Notes by Glenn Schaft
Mallet Quartet (2009) is scored for two vibraphones and two marimbas. The piece is in three continuous movements, fast, slow, fast. In the two outer movements the marimbas set the harmonic background which remains rather static compared to recent pieces of mine like Double Sextet (2007). The marimbas interlock in canon, also a procedure I have used in many other works. The vibes present the melodic material first solo and then in canon. However, in the central slow movement the texture changes into a thinner more transparent one with spare use of notes, particularly in the marimbas.
Mallet Quartet is about 15 minutes in duration. It was co-commissioned by the Amadinda Quartet in Budapest on the occasion of its 25th Anniversary, Nexus in Toronto, So Percussion in New York, Synergy Percussion in Australia, and Soundstreams in Canada. The world Premiere was given by the Amadinda Quartet in Bela Bartók National Concert Hall on December 6, 2009. The American Premiere was given by So Percussion at Stanford University Lively Arts in California on January 9, 2010. Notes by Steve Reich
Glenn Schaft and the YSU Percussion Studio wish to thank Avedis Zildjian Cymbal Co., Remo Inc, Innovative Percussion Inc., and Black Swamp Percussion for their support.
