UNF Professor’s Concert Puts Percussion in Spotlight

Contact Sharon Ashton
Department of Media Relations and Events
(904) 620-2115



JACKSONVILLE - Drums, gongs, vibraphones, a piano and a marimba will join birdcalls, basketballs and all things percussion when Charlotte Mabrey and friends present “An Evening of 20th Century Music” on Saturday, Aug. 21, at 8 p.m. at the Lazzara Performance Hall at the University of North Florida.

Mabrey, a music professor at UNF, has presented the popular concert for percussion since 1997. In fact, the concert has become so popular that a $7 admission charge has become necessary to assure seats to concertgoers. The admission charge will go toward the UNF Percussion Scholarships.

Tickets can be purchased through the UNF Box Office at 904-620-2878.

The concert will open with a three-movement piece, “Duet for Percussion” by John Serry. Phil Marino joins Mabrey in this fast-paced piece. The rhythmically charged work opens with “dueling” percussion parts. Each player has a large assortment of drums and gongs. The second movement uses the same rhythmic cells, but presents them in a lyrical way, using marimba and piano. The final movement returns to the lightening-fast tempo of the opening movement. This time, instead of drums, the players use a variety of birdcalls.

The program then moves to a marimba solo performed by Mabrey. “Little Windows,” by Japanese composer Keiko Abe, captures a slightly melancholy mood and is based on an improvisation by Abe.

UNF graduate Nick Michaud, on a break from his master’s degree studies in Tampa, will tackle a composition for four congas written by JB Smith.

The piano, vibraphones and marimba will take the stage in “Prisoners of the Image Factory.” The piece was written by Bob Becker to accompany a silent film about two teenagers trapped in a factory, but the music stands on its own. Lauren Gildar plays piano, Alex Hayward plays vibraphone, and Mabrey plays marimba on this piece.

Mabrey and friends will keep the surprises coming with “Outside the Box,” a work that’s still in progress. It will feature Will Hall, Marino, Noel Millan and Mabrey. The only clues are that it involves boxes, clapping, twirling and a big kiss!

Mabrey also will perform with Robert Arleigh White on a performance piece that combines music, movement, text and lighting.

Basketballs, however, are the instruments for “Double Dribble,” with Jason Miller, Darren Ronan, (A.K.A. “coach”), Marino, Hall, Millan and Mabrey.

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