Know Before You Go

The Percussion Collective

Presented in partnership with the Percussion Studies at the Butler School of Music and KMFA-FM

The Percussion Collective transcends the medium of percussion through uncommon performance experiences that surprise and engage audiences at a profound emotional level. Artistic Director and percussion luminary Robert van Sice, considered one of the world’s foremost performers of contemporary music for marimba, has assembled a collection of many of today’s brightest percussion stars to bring his unique approach to percussion chamber music to the stage. Featuring players from Europe, Asia, and the US, this new generation of virtuosi represent the leading edge of innovation in concert conception and performance.

The Percussion Collective brings a program that includes Seaborne, an immersive multimedia work that celebrates the beauty of our world’s oceans by Emmy award-winning composer Garth Neustadter and videographer Kjell van Sice. They will also perform Steve Reich’s massive minimalistic work Sextet.

View event program.

The Percussion Collective Robert van Sice from Robert van Sice on YouTube.

Fun Facts:

• In 1989, van Sice gave the first solo marimba recital at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
• The Percussion Collective includes some of the world’s most esteemed young voices in the art form, drawing talent from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Camerata Pacifica, and the Pittsburgh New Music Group.
• The marimba is a cousin to the xylophones, having a larger range of octaves, usually between three and five octaves.
• For the last 15 years, van Sice has collaborated with the Adams Corporation in the Netherlands in the design of a series of marimbas bearing his name.
• The Percussion Collective also has faculty members from universities such as Miami’s Frost School of Music, Michigan State University, the University of Massachusetts, Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, and the University of Kansas.