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The Marine Chamber Series will take place Sunday, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. at the John Philip Sousa Band Hall in Washington, D.C.

Photo by SSgt Brian Rust

Chamber Performance Features Percussion and Brass

7 Oct 2015 | Staff Sgt. Rachel Ghadiali United States Marine Band

The 2015 Fall Chamber Series continues this Sunday, Oct. 11, with a concert at 2 p.m. featuring various ensembles formed by the musicians of “The President’s Own,” from percussion quartet to trombone and bongos and brass quintet. Coordinated by euphonium player Staff Sgt. Hiram Diaz, the performance will include mostly 20th century music. The concert is free and no tickets are required and will take place at John Philip Sousa Band Hall at the Marine Barracks Annex in southeast Washington, D.C. Free parking is available under the overpass on 7th street across from the Annex. The concert will also stream live beginning at 2 p.m. EDT on the Marine Band website www.marineband.marines.mil.

The first half of the program will include Johann Melchior Molter’s Concertino in F which was written in the 18th century and may have been first heard as a concert piece or as incidental music for the court, John Stevens’ Triangles for horn, trombone, and tuba; and Steve Reich’s Drumming, Part I for four drummers. According to percussionist Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan Bisesi, Reich’s composition highlights percussionists in a very important way, showing that percussionists can make an impact in the minimalist genre:

This piece is an introduction into minimalism and a true example of what percussionists can do with this type of music. In this work, there is a limited number of patterns and a limited number of drums. The patterns phrase against one another; we build a pattern, hold it, then one player will slightly change that pattern to create a new one, and that keeps happening as the piece goes on. It requires so much concentration from top to bottom. We have to clearly play our parts, and each part is integral to the piece. I really think the audience will enjoy the challenge of listening to it because there’s so much yet so little happening at the same time.

The second half of the program will include András Szőllősy’s A Hundred Bars for Tom Everett for bass trombone and bongos, Victor Babin’s Hillandale Waltzes for clarinet and piano, and Eric Ewazen’s Symphony in Brass for brass ensemble.

“I wanted to conclude the concert with Symphony in Brass because it is a large piece that will be an exciting ending to the concert,” Diaz said. “Ewazen’s music is very accessible and tuneful, so it will be a nice ending after some more raucous and discorded music earlier in the program. Symphony for Brass has some beautiful chord progressions so I think the audience will come away from it feeling good and saying, ‘That was really nice.’”

The concert is free; no tickets are required. Free parking is available in the parking lot under the overpass on 7th Street across from the annex. The closest Metro stations are the Washington Navy Yard (green line) and Eastern Market (blue/orange/silver lines). The concert will also stream live on the Marine Band website beginning at 2 p.m. EDT.

Complete program and notes

Directions and parking