On Saturday, September 7, I was involved in a presentation of composer John Luther Adams' monumental piece, INUKSUIT. This is written for 99 percussionists and is meant to be performed outside. We performed it at a 40 acre sculpture garden here in Milwaukee. The percussionists came from all over, most from Universities and high schools, with a few of us professionals. INUKSUIT has 3 groups of performers: -conch, siren, triangle; 2-shakers/rattles, drums, cymbal; and 3-Gong, cymbals, glockenspiel. I chose to be in group 3 and used a 32" SC Earth Gong, with 7 different Paiste cymbals from 10" - 21".
After surviving torrential rain early in the day, the skies cleared up and we put on an amazing 80 minute performance. There was a very large and appreciative audience. The main thing I like about the piece is that it removes the barrier between performer & audience. At times, I had people literally
in my face while I played. Quite an experience.
You can read my blog all about it here:
http://percussiondeconstruction.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-experience-of-inuksuit.html There are more photos and links to 2 reviews and 2 videos on YouTube.
