Anthony Maldonado, percussion
Anthony Maldonado is a fifth-year student at West Chester University, completing dual bachelor’s degrees in Music Education and Percussion Performance this semester. He has performed in many different ensembles at WCU, such as Percussion Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, Chamber Winds, Symphony Orchestra, RamBand, and others. With these ensembles, he’s had the privilege to perform in several outstanding venues, including Messiah University’s Parmer Hall, the 2021 PMEA Festival at Kalahari Resort in the Poconos, the 2023 National Association for Music Education regional conference in Rochester, New York, and internationally in the towns of Ubstadt-Weiher and Staufen, Germany.
Anthony also has had the opportunity to perform alongside some of the world’s most talented percussionists, including Percussive Arts Society Past President and Eastman School of Music professor Michael Burritt, Chicago Symphony Orchestra associate principal timpanist, Vadim Karpinos, and Kutztown University’s Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research executive director and curator, Dr. Matthew Coley. Anthony has performed several new works and commissions by talented composers such as Molly Joyce, David Trum, Carl Schimmel, Erik Texter, and Jim Stephenson. He has performed as a soloist with the WCU Percussion Ensemble and Wind Ensemble, and is a founding member of Mosaic Percussion, a percussion quartet based in West Chester, PA.
Anthony has been mentored by some of greater Philadelphia’s finest educators, including Opera Philadelphia’s Dr. Ralph Sorrentino, No Name Pops and Lancaster Symphony timpanist Prof. David Nelson, Prof. Brent Behrenshausen, Dr. Marc Jacoby, and Dr. Stephen Ng. Anthony is also the recipient of several awards, including the 2021 Wells School of Music’s Jamie Herbert Memorial Scholarship.
Mosaic Percussion, percussion quartet
Anthony Maldonado, Jacob Scheidt, David Sabella, and Craig DiGiamarino are Mosaic Percussion, a quartet based in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Throughout their undergraduate studies at West Chester University, they have performed several concerts and recitals They have been featured with the WCU Wind Ensemble at the NAfME regional conference in Rochester, New York, as well as throughout Pennsylvania. They have had the privilege to perform many exciting new works, including Viet Cuong's Re(NEW)al and the world premiere of James Stevenson's "Games" Concerto with the WCU Wind Ensemble. They have also performed several percussion ensemble pieces, such as Andy Akiho’s Pillar III, Ivan Trevino’s Watercolor Sun, and Robert Sanderl’s Schnabel.
Mudra, BobBecker*(b.1947)
Commissioned by INDE ’90 and reorchestrated for the percussion group NEXUS in 1990, Bob Becker’s Mudra has become a hallmark piece of the percussion ensemble repertoire for decades. The instrumental ensemble in the original version of the piece – a dance titled UrbhanaMudra by choreographer Joan Phillips – played a role similar to what is found in traditional Indian dance concerts. While the solo drum is still the principal voice throughout the piece, the western instruments were not used to imitate an “Indian” sound. Responding to the “dance first” approach, where the music is fit to pre-existing choreography, classical Indian musical structures were allowed to influence the formal, rhythmic, and harmonic aspects of the music. The listener will hear the intervallic content of the raga Chandrakauns (tonic, minor third, fourth, minor sixth, major seventh), as well as North Indian rhythmic ideas of palta (motivic development) and ti hai (rhythmic cadence formulas) in the final drum solo section.
CannedHeat,EckhardKopetzki(b.1956)
Winner of the 2002 Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest for Multi-Percussion Solos, Canned Heat is an exciting and rhythmically diverse work. Composed for bongos, tom toms, tambourine, mixing bowl, and (of course) tin can, the piece certainly showcases an eclectic and interesting mix of sound sources. The performer is challenged to make musical and artistic decisions all while navigating relentless rhythmic consonances and dissonances. Each section of the piece brings new cross rhythms and hemiola figures, never dwelling on one for too long, resulting in an ever-evolving musical landscape.
Odessa,MatthewLorick(b.1989)
Highlighting the more virtuosic corner of the marimba repertoire, Matthew Lorick’s Odessa is a fun and exciting piece for the performer and audience alike. The piece often centers around steady sixteenth note patterns where the performer must make a constant and deliberate effort to shape each arpeggiated harmony, similar to Eric Sammut’s Libertango and Paul Smadbeck’s Rhythm Song. Right hand octaves, gently flowing 7/16 and 12/8 passages, and castanet-like glissandi are just a few of the features of this great piece.
PillarIII,AndyAkiho*(b.1979)
Pillar III by Andy Akiho is part of his larger work, Seven Pillars. Parts of this 11-movement, evening-length work have quickly become favorites among percussionists. Composed in 2021 in conjunction with Sandbox Percussion, Seven Pillars consists of seven multi-percussion quartet movements, as well as four solo movements – one for each member of the ensemble. Featuring Reich-like hockets, atonal harmonies, intricate vibraphone splits, and unrelenting patterns of thirteen 32nd notes, Pillar III pushes the boundaries of what percussion, and its musicians are capable of.
WatercolorSun,IvanTrevino(b.1983)
Commissioned by Third Coast Percussion and premiered at the 2023 Percussive Arts Society International Convention, Watercolor Sun is an instant favorite. Written for four players around one 4.3 octave marimba, this piece highlights wonderful feelings that are difficult to put into words. Trevino himself says: “maybe it is gratitude, peace, or something in between. Whatever this feeling is, it is at the heart of Watercolor Sun.” For me, this piece symbolizes the journey I’ve completed, the music I’ve played, and the incredible people I’ve met along the way.
This recital, entitled FULL CIRCLE, is the culmination of many things. Among completing final degree requirements, this symbolizes turning the page to a new chapter of my musicianship. All the pieces programmed I have a different kind of connection to. I learned of Odessa while watching YouTube videos in my freshman dorm. Mudra I originally “performed” in 2021 alongside outstanding upperclassmen percussionists. I, as well as the rest of Mosaic Percussion have been wanting to play Pillar III for years. Canned Heat was a topic of discussion in this semester’s Percussion Literature class. And lastly, many of my friends and I watched the premiere of Watercolor Sun at PASIC this past year.
Although many of these pieces are primarily musically fulfilling for me, Watercolor Sun feels especially so. Completing my senior recital on the instrument I began my mallet studies on, and surrounded by some of my dearest friends is a moment I’m sure I’ll cherish for years to come. I’d like to dedicate this performance to the countless teachers, professors, mentors, friends, and family that have supported me and helped shape me into the musician I am today. Your love and dedication have not gone unnoticed, and for that I am incredibly grateful.