EVENTS: NEW ART OPENINGS, “TWO JEWS WALK INTO A WAR” 24 URBAN JOURNAL: THE STATE OF OUR CITY
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RESTAURANT REVIEW: PEPPA POT 11 THEATER REVIEW: “GREY GARDENS” AT BLACKFRIARS 28 FILM: “THE RAVEN,” “DAMSELS IN DISTRESS” 32 CROSSWORD 43
jon n a k a m atsu • kh a ir a a rb y • future isl a nd • eric person & m eta m orphosis • wa z u • a nd m ore m usic , pa ge 1 2
may 2-8, 2012 Free
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Greater Rochester’s Alternative Newsweekly
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Vol 41 No 34
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News. Music. Life.
Coming soon: WPA action figures.” ART REVIEW, PAGE 23
Faces of the Great War. NEWS, PAGE 6
Building bikefriendly campus connections. NEWS, PAGE 8
Planning the future of Powder Mills Park. NEWS, PAGE 8
City’s Best Busker Contest is BACK! MAP & OFFERS, PAGE 2
MUSIC FEATURE | BY RON NETSKY | PAGE 14 | ILLUSTRATION BY MAX SEIFERT
Percussion Rochester and the pulse of music Life as we know it started with a big bang. That’s how important percussion is to our universe. The Eastman School of Music is about to celebrate percussion’s many and varied, if a bit more humble, roles in Percussion Rochester, a new festival running this week in and around the school. Percussion Rochester will feature three worldpremiere pieces including a performance of “Night Wind” by Naomi Sekiya. Sekiya was the winner of The John Beck Composition Prize honoring the long-time Eastman faculty member and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra percussionist. Beck sees this festival as
unique. “There are percussion festivals held all over the world, but those festivals deal with only percussion instruments,” says Beck. “This one incorporates percussion with other instruments.” Other highlights include a jazz concert showcasing new arrangements of Weather Report tunes featuring the fusion band’s long-time drummer, Peter Erskine; a performance by the world-famous NEXUS percussion ensemble; master classes; and community events highlighting Indian and African percussion groups. The common denominator is the beat.