Youngstown State University
Dr. Glenn Schaft
Henry H. Stambaugh Auditorium
Personnel
Percussion Ensemble 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
James Reardon, East Liverpool, 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
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.
Escape: Sextet for Triangle (2014)
Drew Worden b. 1988
2+1 (2013)
Ivan Trevino b. 1983
Evan McCreary & Tommy Starr - marimba
In the words of composer Ivan Trevino – 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.
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
Fortress
Donald Schleicher
Fortress was composed in 1988 and received its premiere performance by the Batawagama Youth Camp Band in Iron County, Michigan, Donald Schleicher, conductor, on June 25, 1988. In the work, the tritone is the most important harmonic interval throughout. Alteration between major triads a tritone apart occurs throughout the piece. Additionally, there are three important motives that recur throughout the work, each receiving emphasis at different times. The main idea, a dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth note rhythm, returns often and is passed around to differing sections. The call motif, a triplet figure followed by a half note, utilizes the tritone at the end of the figure. And the legato theme, which combines slurred patterns and a wide contrasting dynamic shape, occurring over a four-measure phrase.
On A Hymnsong of Philip Bliss
Ralph Vaughan Williams
On A Hymnsong of Philip Bliss is a restful, gentle, and reflective composition based on the 1876 Philip Bliss – Horatio Spafford hymn, “It is Well with My Soul.” Written to honor the retiring Principal of Shady Grove Christian Academy, “On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss” was presented as a gift from the SGCA Concert Band to Reverend Steve Edel in May of 1989.
“It is Well with My Soul” was first published in Gospel Songs No. 2
by Sankey and Bliss (1876). It is possibly the most influential and enduring in the Bliss repertoire and is often taken as a choral model, appearing in hymnals of a wide variety of Christian fellowships.
Ralph Vaughan Williams was an influential British composer and folk-song collector. His powerful and expressive orchestral music is notable for its very “English” sound. His early adventures collecting folk songs in the English countryside profoundly influenced his later compositions. Along with Gustav Holst, his works for wind band form a foundation for the serious literature in that medium.
Industrial Renaissance
Dr. Paul Louth
Industrial Renaissance is a three-part piece depicting a cycle of booming industry, slow down, and hopes for rebirth. The first part, full of tense and percussive sounds, calls to mind the clamor of a factory floor with machines running nonstop; this is followed by a darker, quieter movement based on a hauntingly simple, repetitive bass figure. Improvised segments by flutes, trumpet, vibraphone, and snare drum represent creativity and industriousness in an attempt to bring the closed factory back to life. The third movement is much brighter and more hopeful. Based on the Lydian mode – the standard major scale with raised 4th degree that is often considered an exultant or futuristic-sounding scale, it builds to a triumphant conclusion. Dr. Paul Louth is Associate Professor of Music Education at the Dana School of Music. He earned a B.Mus. and B.Ed. from the University of Toronto and an M.Mus. and Ph.D. from Western University. Louth studied composition with the Canadian jazz icon Phil Nimmons, and he has had commissioned work for school ensembles performed at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago.
English Folk Song Suite
Vaughan Williams
English Folk Song Suite was written in 1923 and premiered at Kneller Hall, home of Britain’s finest military music academy. Its source material consists of several English folks songs. It is cast in 3 movements: a “March” subtitled “Seventeen Come Sunday”; an “Intermezzo” on “My Bonny Boy”; and another “March” subtitled “Folk Songs from Somerset”, which incorporates several different tunes. The original composition also included a fourth movement, Sea Songs, which Vaughan Williams later decided to publish separately. While the English Folk Song Suite is a cornerstone of the wind band repertoire, it is not fully demonstrative of Vaughan Williams’s compositional powers. Only the “Intermezzo” approaches the harmonic daring and lyricism that mark the rest of his work. The remainder of the piece is a fairly straightforward, faithful setting of the folk songs.
Notable YSU Percussion Ensemble performances include the Percussive Arts Society Ohio Chapter Days of Percussion at Capital University, Ohio Northern University, Youngstown State University and OMEA Professional Development Conferences in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. An important 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 composer commissions with Jeffrey Matter and Dave Morgan; featuring Glenn Schaft as soloist on Morgan's "Reactions for Drumset and Wind Ensemble" with the YSU Wind Ensemble, Dr. Stephen Gage-director. 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 tour-de-force suite by YSU professor of jazz studies, bass, and composition, Dr. Dave Morgan.
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
Concert Band Personnel:
*Section leader
FLUTE
Jacquelyn Jupina*
Marissa Cashbaugh
Willow Artherholt
Cassidy Bartalsky
Veronica Erjavec
May Einfalt
OBOE
Brynn Anstadt
BASSOON
Mason Taylor*
CLARINET
Gabrielle Chapman
Caroline Griswold
Kelly Kovacevich
Malini Rajasekaran
Elizabeth Sabo
Austin Watson
Hannah White
ALTO SAXOPHONE
Stephanie Pavlovich*
Anthony Bonamase
Courtney Larkin
Austin Ward
TENOR SAXOPHONE
Daniel Creighton
BARITONE SAXOPHONE
Mark Reinke
HORN
Stephen Hall*
Joshua Bryan
Chaste Chapman
Rosemary Bresson
Ben Cross
Cheyenne Halderman
TRUMPET
Erica Jones*
Mario Beaulieu
Ethan Barnard
Elizabeth Diehl
John Ford
Jordan King
TROMBONE
Evan Jones
Tessa Goehring
Mathew Knapp
Kyle Zimmerman
EUPHONIUM
Brent Drysdale
Matt Franks
TUBA
Jacob Provino*
Dominick Commisso
Dylan Douglas
Meredith Pallo
Elliott Roose
PERCUSSION
Brandon Maffitt*
Zachary Criss
Elaine Huncik
James Reardon
FACULTY BIOS:
Glenn Schaft is Professor and Director of Percussion Studies at Youngstown State University and faculty advisor/co-founder of the Youngstown Percussion Collective. His performance and teaching career spans over forty years in idioms such as classical, new music, world music, jazz, blues, rock, reggae, funk, Brazilian, West African, and Afro-Cuban music. He is an artist endorser with Avedis Zildjian Co., Innovative Percussion Inc., Remo Inc., and educational consultant with Black Swamp Percussion. Glenn earned three performance degrees; DMA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, MA from Eastern Illinois University, and BM from Baldwin Wallace University. He also 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. A longtime member of the Percussive Arts Society, Glenn has served on the Drumset Committee, University Pedagogy Committee, Membership Committee, Emerging Leaders Committee, and has appeared as performer, lecturer, and panelist at numerous PAS international conventions throughout the United States.
Brandt Payne is Director of Athletic Bands, and Associate Professor of Music for the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University. At YSU he conducts the marching band, pep band, and concert band. He teaches courses in conducting, instrumental music education, and graduate wind literature. Dr. Payne also conducts the Stambaugh Youth Concert Band in Youngstown, Ohio. Brandt has held similar academic appointments at the University of Hawai’i and University of Wyoming. Dr. Payne began his teaching career as a high school band director in the Red Oak Public Schools in Red Oak, Iowa.
Brandt is active as an author, guest conductor, and clinician throughout the United States. Dr. Payne is the co-author of two textbooks, the Complete Marching Band Resource Manual, 3rd ed. with University of Pennsylvania Press and Conducting; the Art of Communication with Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. He has published articles with the Instrumentalist, and written literature and recording reviews for the International Trombone Association Journal. Brandt has given presentations at the national conferences of the College Band Directors National Association and the CBDNA National Athletic Band Symposium.
A native of Iowa, Brandt holds a Bachelor of Music degree in trombone performance and teacher certification from the University of Iowa, a Master of Music degree in trombone performance and, Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting, both from Arizona State University, in Tempe.
Paul Louth is Associate Professor of Music Education at the Dana School of Music, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in music education foundations, methods, and research. He is a former high school music teacher and professional freelance trombonist who earned bachelors degrees in performance and education from the University of Toronto, and an M.Mus. and Ph.D. in Music Education from Western University. Louth studied composition and arranging with the Canadian jazz composer Phil Nimmons, and he has had commissioned pieces for school ensembles performed at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago.
