Youngstown State University Percussion Ensemble
Dr. Glenn Schaft
Brunswick High School, Dublin-Coffman High School and Columbus Convention Center, Room A120-123
Personnel
Edward Butcher, Salem, OH
Zachary Criss, Warren, OH
Spencer Crosser, Lisbon, OH
Joel Gillespie, East Liverpool, OH
Brandon Maffitt, Warren, OH
Evan McCreary, Poland, OH
Tracy Rusk, Brookfield, OH
Tommy Starr, Pittsburgh, PA
Anthony Tresky, Pittsburgh, PA
About the Director
GLENN SCHAFT is Professor and Director of Percussion Studies at Youngstown State University. He is the advisor/co-founder of the Youngstown Percussion Collective and an artist with Avedis Zildjian Co., Innovative Percussion Inc., Remo Inc., and a member of the Black Swamp Percussion Educators Network. Glenn earned the DMA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the MA from Eastern Illinois University, and the BM from Baldwin Wallace University. He pursued post doctoral studies in contemporary music and orchestral percussion at Cleveland State University, Afro-Cuban music in Havana, Cuba and world percussion at the Berklee School of Music World Percussion Festival. Glenn’s teachers include John Hollenbeck, John Riley, Tom Freer, Jay Burnham, Lewis Nash, Ted Piltzecker, Tom Siwe, Johnny Lee Lane, George Kiteley, Harold Damas, Linda Pimentel, and Ruben Alvarez. A member of the Percussive Arts Society, Glenn serves on the Drumset Committee and has appeared as performer, lecturer, and panelist at PAS international conventions.
Glenn’s career spans idioms such as classical, new music, world music, jazz, blues, rock, reggae, funk, Brazilian, West African, and Afro-Cuban. Glenn has recorded and served as executive producer with the Youngstown Percussion Collective, Dave Morgan, Ron Coulter, John Hollenbeck, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Scott Wyatt, Amanda Powell, Air Force Band of Mid-America, Youngstown State University Wind Ensemble, and myriad jingles.
His credits include conductors Giora Bernstein, Jeffery Siegel, Anton Coppola, Edwin London, Gunther Schuller, Paul Martin Zonn, Peter Schickele, aka P.D.Q. Bach ensembles such as Colorado Music Festival, Skaneateles (NY) Chamber Music Festival, "Artist In Residence" at Baldwin-Wallace University with BATTU contemporary/world percussion group, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Cleveland Ballet, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Opera, Robert Page Singers, Akron Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Springfield (IL) Symphony, Youngstown Symphony, Duluth-Superior Symphony, Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, Dance Theater of Harlem, Cleveland Dance Collective, and artists such as Paul Sperry, Julie Newell, Robert Weirich, Robert Van Sice, Peter Erskine, and Ben Toth.
Glenn drumset and world music credits include Ruben Alvarez, American Jazz Orchestra, Chuck Berry, Nick Brignola, Freddie Bryant, Ndugu Chancellor, Sarah Jane Cion, Stewart Copeland, Anthony Cox, 1940's Radio Hour Show-US Tour, Todd Coolman, Harold Danko, Paquito D’Rivera, Larry Elgart, Raul Esparza, John Fedchock, Five By Design, Reynaldo Gonzales, Taku Hirano, Laurence Hobgood, Engelbert Humperdink, Randy Johnston, Sean Jones, Mike Kocour, Alison Krauss, Victor Krauss, Ralph Lalama, Tony Leonardi, Robert Lockwood Jr., Bryan Lynch, Jim McNeely, Hank Marr, Phil Palombi, Ken Peplowski, Chita Rivera, Trichy Sankaran, Michael Spiro, Marvin Stamm, Chip Stephens, The Texas Tenors, Alan Vizzutti, Dan Wall, James Weidman, Michael Weiss, Mike Wofford, Women of the Phantom, Andrea Zonn, and Youngstown State University Faculty Jazz Group.
About the YSU Percussion Ensemble
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.
Ritual Music: Variations on the Numbers 2 and 4 (2006)
David Skidmore (b. 1982)
Ritual Music was written for the Chicago dance company Raizel Performances and was premiered in 2005. As the title suggests, I used the numbers two and four to bring order to the primeval timbres and violent counterpoint of the piece. The pitches in the marimba, the rhythmic motifs, and the structure of the phrases were all determined numerically. As such, a friction is created between the mechanical simplicity of the structural elements and the abandon with which the instruments shout, shriek, groan, and wail. The ritual is tightly controlled with respect to its numeric foundations, yet it is also an incantation of things far more frantic and powerful. Thus, the piece can act as a sort of "overture" for percussion. Notes by David Skidmore.
2+1 (2013)
Ivan Trevino (b. 1983)
Evan McCreary & Tommy Starr - marimba
There are many percussionists around the world who only have access to one marimba (like me!). I decided to write a piece that would allow two marimbists to play a duet utilizing one marimba. While 2+1 simplifies instrument needs, it creates a challenging experience for the performers, who have to maneuver around the instrument without getting in each other's way. In addition, the piece is written so that the players face each other. At the time I composed it, I was listening to Bon Iver's self-titled release and although the rhythmic language in 2+1 is different from the band's album, the harmonic language shares similar qualities. The piece is dedicated to my wife Amanda. We recently rescued a puppy named Sadie, the first "addition" to our family; hence the name 2+1. Notes by Ivan Trevino.
Rancho Jubilee (2009)
Andrew Beall (b. 1980)
Rancho Jubilee is the name of a Dominican restaurant on my neighborhood corner in Washington Heights, New York City. It's fun decor and lively atmosphere mixed with Latin and Caribbean influences provided a nice setting for composing this trio. Cajon is a Spanish word, meaning "box" and the instrument originated in Peru and has become popular in Spanish Flamenco music. The cajon produces distinct low, mid, and high frequency timbres, not unlike the American drumset and the wire strings extending across one of the interior panels create a snare drum effect. Notes by Andrew Beall and Glenn Schaft
Fandango 13 (2013)
Michael Burritt (b. 1962)
Fandango 13 is a virtuosic dance in mixed meter scored for percussion sextet. It was originally scored as a quartet and served as the third and final movement to a larger piece titled 4 Points West, a commission from the West Point Academy Percussion Quartet in 2005. Fandango 13 is a re-orchestration and expansion of this movement. The pitch material is essentially modal in nature with cadences in major and minor tonalities but never truly establishes a true tonal center. Fandango is a milieu of the many styles, ranging from pop and jazz to minimalism and contemporary music, that comprise my musical experience. Notes by Michael Burritt
Tub Thumper (2013)
Nicholas Sainato (b. 1988)
(Concerto for Drum Set with Five Percussionists)
I. Pocket Watch
II. Clockwork
III. Second Hand
Edward "Hobie" Butcher – Soloist
Nicholas Sainato is a Boardman, OH native. After graduating from Boardman High School in 2006, Nicholas attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, later transferring to Youngstown State University and graduating in 2014 with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance (Drum Set). While at YSU, Nicholas performed in the Jazz Ensembles, Jazz Combos, and the Percussion Ensemble. As a member of the Youngstown Percussion Collective, he participated in the commissioning and recording of Dr. Dave Morgan's Forms of Things Unknown. He performed regularly around Northeast Ohio with The Strange Familiar, The Dennis Drummond Trio, and The Vindys. Several songs that he wrote with his group The Strange Familiar were featured in television shows such as The CW's The Vampire Diaries and ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars. After graduation, Nicholas moved to Nashville, TN where he currently lives and works as a touring/session drummer. He is currently performing with pop duo Nightly (Interscope), country artist Clare Dunn (Universal/MCA), & Nolan Neal (The Voice), including performances at Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, and the Grand Ole Opry. Tub Thumper was composed and premiered under the direction of Dr. Schaft for the YSU Percussion Ensemble and Nick's senior recital, and later recorded at TakeNote Productions for an upcoming release. Notes by Nick Sainato
Thanks to Avedis Zildjian Co. (cymbals), Remo Inc. (drumheads and world percussion), Innovative Percussion Inc. (sticks and mallets), and Black Swamp Percussion (accessory percussion) for their generous product and artist support.
Audio Recordings $5 each - proceeds benefit the Youngstown Percussion Collective
Dark Wood - chamber music featuring six premiere recordings and four commissioned works recorded by the Youngstown Percussion Collective and Youngstown State University Percussion Ensemble, Glenn Schaft performer and Executive Producer. Forms Of Things Unknown is the Youngstown Percussion Collective's commission project with YSU faculty member Dr. Morgan, who composed a one-hour tour de force chamber work. Premiered in 2011 at the Butler Institute of American Art, YPC subsequently recorded the work at the Dana School of Music and performed it at the Ohio Music Education Association Professional Conference in Columbus. Available at I-Tunes and CD Baby.com
