Beats & Pieces 5: unusual percussion instruments set the beat
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At the Beats & Pieces Percussion Festival at Bozar, discover how rhythms and cultures inspire and enrich each other. All the musical genres dear to Bozar -classical, global, jazz, and electronic - are featured on the program. You’ll also encounter the most unexpected percussion instruments, because it’s not just drums and cymbals that give a rhythmic piece its pulse.
Basketballs, slats, and books have one thing in common: the iconic Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda transforms them into percussion instruments in acoustic music that almost sounds electronic. Gérard Grisey, on the other hand, finds inspiration for Le Noir de l’Étoile in less ordinary sources: the pulsating rhythms of dying stars, better known as pulsars. For an hour, you’ll be taken on a rhythmic adventure, alternating between powerful sonic explosions and ethereal vibrations that give you a sense of timelessness.
These aren’t instruments you’d normally learn to play at a classical music academy, but in their countries of origin they have been prized for centuries. Groove& brings a rich array of Korean percussion instruments (jaunggu and yanggeum), while the Belgian ensemble Spëcht gathers instruments from around the world (darbouka, doholla, udu…). Mohammad Reza Mortazavi—the man with the fastest hands—shows, together with Bijan Chemirani, how he reinvented traditional Iranian percussion. Grab your dictionary and enjoy!
Even the human body can become a percussion instrument. Julia Wolfe, the portrait artist of this season, composed a concerto for body percussion, brought to life at Bozar by Colin Currie and the Belgian National Orchestra. Brussels-based Sysmo takes this work as a starting point to bring percussion to everyone through sign language. Our language has its own rhythms as well: during Poetry Meets Percussion, spoken word artists and percussionists give extra power to their texts.
The request from Sō Percussion to write a piece for string quartet awakened the rebel in Julia Wolfe. Instead of four string players, percussionists take on the roles of violin, viola, and cello—played in unorthodox ways: striking the strings, rubbing over the wood, using guitar-like effects… Bl!ndman takes on the challenge and turns the violin inside out. Even stripped of its lyricism, the instrument still has something to say.
A “percussion machine” inspired by the sound of the iconic Roland TR-808—the drum machine at the heart of hip-hop and electronic music—forms the basis for the electrifying performances of Ugandan percussion trio Arsenal Mikebe. They dance uniquely on the edge between acoustic and electronic music. But there are also human drum machines, like Mark Giuliana. For years, he has built a reputation as one of the most original jazz drummers. He presents his solo album MARK, where his signature grooves intertwine with intriguing soundscapes, synths, and fragments of spoken word.
Percussionist Colin Currie performs percussion concertos by Wolfe and Andriessen, while Gershwin and Pärt round out this bold concert programme.
Percussionist Colin Currie performs percussion concertos by Wolfe and Andriessen, while Gershwin and Pärt round out this bold concert programme.
