ELLISVILLE –Jones College’s music faculty and Director of Bands, Dr. Ben Burge, along with Associate Directors of Band, Dr. Josh Frans and Dr. Lindsey Keay will be featured in a Faculty Recital on Thursday, March 13, at 7 p.m. in the M.P. Bush Fine Arts Auditorium. The three will be collaborating together with Frans playing various percussion instruments as the accompaniment to Keay on flute, and Burge on alto saxophone. Frans’ solo pieces will feature the marimba, vibraphone, and a multi-percussion performance that uses an electronic accompaniment.
“The composer, Andy Akiho who is a leading percussion composer, wrote this piece, ‘Stop Speaking’ about 10 years ago before AI, but he uses Word to type or compose the track, then he chose the voice, Vicky to voice it. There is no time signature or meter, so everything is based on the pattern of the speech, which is more challenging, and I had to learn a new way to practice the piece. I had to listen to the track and figure out the spacing between the words,” said Frans.
In addition to the distinctive use of technology in Frans’ solo, the free recital will feature a wide variety of genres of music including, jazz, tango, classical lyrical tunes and popular pieces to things you don’t always hear in a typical recital. Besides hearing different combinations of instruments playing together, the trio will be incorporating interesting techniques into their performances. One piece of obscure music influenced by Middle Eastern culture called, “Devil Dance,” is a duet featuring Frans on an Egyptian hand drum called a darbuka as Keay will be using extended techniques on her flute which many music students don’t usually have the opportunity to hear or learn.
“It’s a technique where you vocalize or sing and play at the same time. The tone is not full and it’s not like a real tone which sounds a little creepy. It’s something our audience will not typically hear and even our students will get to hear something they don’t come across in their own repertoire just yet. So, maybe it will give our students something to strive towards, although I do make my students sing and play in their lessons. It’s a technique that I think is helpful, but they may not have done a piece where they have to do that and so to see it in real time will be inspiring, I hope,” said Keay.
Despite the fact the three have been working together for the last six years, this will be the first time they will be performing together for a faculty recital.
“We are very excited to present this program so that our students can see us on the stage!” said Burge. “We spend our time coaching them for these moments and we believe that this is a great opportunity for them to watch us as well.”
The trio shared that performing for their students keeps them sharp. In fact, as the audience enjoys the varied works and displays of unique musical techniques, the Faculty Recital really serves as a continued learning experience for both the music faculty and their students.
As Frans explained, “You never stop being a student and you never stop learning. Once you think you’ve got it, then somebody else is out there moving forward and you become irrelevant. We don’t want that for our students, and they came here to study with us because we’re still out there performing, and we are still relevant in the professional world and still have connections that can help them in the future with letters of recommendation and making introductions and networking.”
To view the live performance, check out the Jones College School of Art, Music and Performance social media.