Percussion Concert at USU Marks Last for Faculty Member, Director

The Utah State University Percussion Ensembles and the Caine Percussion Ensemble will perform for the last time under the direction of Dennis Griffin, percussion faculty in USU’'s Department of Music and the Caine School of the Arts, in a concert Monday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Kent Concert Hall of the Chase Fine Arts Center (approximately 1110 E. 610 North, Logan).

Tickets are $5, and free to USU students with ID and are available at the CSA Box Office by calling (435) 797-8022, online, or at the door.

 

Griffin, a long-time faculty member in the music department and percussion specialist, retires in June following 36 years of service at USU.

 

The Caine Percussion Ensemble, an auditioned scholarship group, opens the concert with Thomas Gauger’s Gainsborough and Mark Ford’s Stubernic. The latter features three players on a single marimba providing a very dynamic and exciting performance, Griffin said.

 

The USU Percussion Ensemble that includes 15 auditioned students, will play four concertos with a wide range of instruments, promising a full musical experience while being very melodic and harmonic, Griffin said. One of the concertos is composed by student Ty Whitesides,  Wardle, who, with fellow Robin Peterson, was invited to play in the Salute to Youth concert with the Utah Symphony Orchestra. Whitesides and Peterson are also featured in this concert.

 

“The most rewarding aspect of my tenure at USU has been my association with so many really terrific students,” Griffin said. “Our concert will showcase the talents of several current students who typify the best that the percussion studio has produced. I am personally very proud of these students and how their accomplishments reflect back on what so many other percussionists have achieved at USU.”

 

In addition to his duties as director, Griffin will perform on the concert program as well. He is featured on timpani in a three-movement piece composed especially for the final concert by Ty Whitesides.

 

 

Writer: Sally Okelberry (435) 797-1500, sally.okelberry@usu.edu
Contact: Dennis Griffin, dennis.griffin@usu.edu