Catherine Cole is a graduate student in percussion at the Eastman School of Music, who is currently interning with WXXI through the Eastman Arts Leadership Program.
You can watch her performances here online.
This past weekend, I attended the annual Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), held in Indianapolis. PASIC is a four-day gathering of percussionists and drummers from all over the world to present research, attend clinics, and hear the world’s best musicians in concert. This year’s PASIC was particularly special to me because I had the opportunity to perform with my classmates in the Eastman Percussion Ensemble in a Showcase Concert. We were one of three collegiate ensembles who were awarded a PASIC concert slot after winning the Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition for 2017.
Our Saturday afternoon concert included five pieces, four of which were premiere performances. The new pieces included compositions by Eastman Professor of Percussion Michael Burritt, Eastman music theory Professor Matthew Curlee, and a current Eastman student Victor LaBozzetta.
One of my favorite memories of the PASIC concert was watching Victor stand backstage and listen to his piece being performed in front of 2,000 audience members for the first time. My next favorite moment was seeing friends and Eastman alumni rush to the edge of the stage to give their congratulations during the standing ovation at the end of the final piece.
PASIC is always an inspiring experience. Nowhere else can percussionists from all musical professions meet to perform, learn, and work together to advance our art form. This PASIC will always stand out in my memory as one that made me feel truly privileged to be a member of the Eastman percussion community, (and feeling like a rock star was pretty cool too!).
To see highlights from the Eastman Percussion Ensemble’s PASIC performance, check out the video below by Four/Ten Media and our sponsors at Evans Drumheads.