St. Andrews Bach Society

I am thrilled to present this recital in which I explore the work of Áskell Másson as well as perform the world premiere of Tony Zilincik’s Circle of Magic and Dancing for Oboe and Multiple Percussion.

 This recital is what I plan to be part of a series dedicated to the exploration of Áskell Másson's works.  I have been intrigued by his compositional style and treatment of percussion for some time now, and I recently discovered a rather large catalogue of more than 25 percussion solo & chamber works that are rarely, if ever, performed in the United States.

 I was first introduced to Mr. Másson's work when I performed his snare drum duo, ‘Rhythm Strip’ about 7 years ago.  I fell in love with his way of writing by way of exploring the many timbral possibilities of the snare drum, incorporating a myriad of textural variations, and thematic interest.

When I decided to embark upon a recital project that involved a selection of Áskell Másson’s works, I contacted him over email, and we proceeded to have frequent conversations on every aspect from inspiration for his works and his original program notes, to proper interpretation of his notation, and even correcting various errata in the score of Sonata I for Solo Marimba, which were never addressed, largely due to the infrequency of it’s performance and the number of publishers it has gone through over the last 5 years.

I chose to begin this journey with these particular pieces of Mr. Masson: KÍM for Solo Snare Drum (2001), Seasons for Clarinet and Hand Drum (1987), and Sonata I for Solo Marimba (1981) because I wanted to illustrate the breadth of his work over a 20 year period on a varied spectrum of instruments as well as demonstrate his treatment of percussion in both a solo and chamber music setting.

This recital is particularly special because it includes the first ever commission by the St. Andrew’s Bach Society – Circle of Magic and Dancing for Oboe and Multiple Percussion- a new work written by Tony Zilincik for Dr. Lindabeth Binkley and myself.  Personally, I hope this is one of many performances of this piece, as is it a wonderful work for this instrument pairing.