by David Kulma
The Madison-based powerhouse Clocks in Motion, one of the percussion quartets currently making a name for themselves, returned for their third visit to Cleveland on Monday, September 23 on CSU’s Cleveland Contemporary Players series at Drinko Recital Hall. Clocks — Megan Arns, Matthew Coley, Christopher G. Jones, and Sean Kleve — have taken seriously their mandate to bring new work to life, and offered four works written over the last five years. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
Last month on the podcast The Three Questions with Andy Richter, comedian Jim Gaffigan said he always thinks he’ll be “metaphorically escorted into a room of luxury” after achieving something special, though he’s learned that doesn’t exist. But if you’re a composer interested in writing for percussion, there’s a room that might provide similar validation, and plenty of new ideas.
I’m talking about a 2,000-square-foot warehouse in Edgerton, Wisconsin, where Sean Kleve, music director of the percussion quartet Clocks in Motion, houses a collection of instruments, some of them rare and built by the group. They call the space their “Instrumentarium,” and composers who collaborate with them can go there to survey their wide and varied options.
One of those visitors has been Andrew Rindfleisch, professor of composition at Cleveland State University. His years-long collaboration with Clocks in Motion continues on Monday, September 23 at 8:00 pm, when the ensemble will visit CSU’s Drinko Recital Hall to premiere his Chroma.
by Robert Rollin
Clocks in Motion, the ensemble in residence for the University of Wisconsin-Madison percussion studio, appeared at Cleveland State’s Waetjen Auditorium, Monday evening March 24, presenting an exceptional new music program. The group, established in 2011, is on its second Midwest tour. There are nine professional percussionists in the group, one of whom also serves as pianist.
According to its mission statement, Clocks in Motion, is “dedicated to performing modern chamber music and commissioning new repertoire.” The ensemble’s membership ranges from undergraduate and graduate students to those with the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in percussion. At the concert all the performers evidenced a remarkable professionalism, skillful performance, and prompt, careful organization and structuring of the complex percussion resources. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
If you have never had the opportunity to hear the magic that a percussion ensemble can bring to a stage, here is your chance. On Sunday, March 24th in Gamble Auditorium at Baldwin Wallace University and Monday, March 25th in Waetjen Auditorium at Cleveland State University, Clocks in Motion presents concerts featuring the works of Reich, Cage, Xenakis and Brün. The program also features violinist Evan Kleve as soloist in Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Violin with Percussion Orchestra.
Formed in 2011, Clocks in Motion is a contemporary percussion ensemble dedicated to performing modern chamber music and commissioning new repertoire. The group were the featured performers at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery 2012 Science Fair and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMOCA) Gallery Night for the opening of a new exhibit by painter Robert Lostutter. In addition, the group served in residency at Rhapsody Arts Center (Verona, WI) in January of 2013 to teach students in grades K-12 about contemporary music and percussion and will be the ensemble in residence at the Interlochen Arts Academy in May 2013. [Read more…]