by Tom Wachunas

The January 11 Casual Series chamber concert by the Canton Symphony Orchestra at Cable Recital Hall was an utterly fascinating aural adventure. Principal flutist Katherine DeJong and principal percussionist Matthew Beck combined their remarkable skills to deliver a captivating program of works with scintillating textures, intriguing melodies, and infectious rhythms.

Two of the seven works on the program were duets for flute and percussion: Henri Tomasi’s Le Tombeau de Mireille, and Lou Harrison’s First Concerto for Flute and Percussion. The Tomasi piece, with Beck steady on drum and DeJong pure and piercing on piccolo, is at many points a frolicsome dance, at others a slow, solemn march. The performance conjured the spirit of medieval troubadours traversing the French countryside. [Read more…]