By JACOB NISSLY

St. Louis Gets a Big Bang Out of Juilliard Percussionists ByLast spring, on May 10, percussionists from Juilliard joined forces with those from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra to perform in the inaugural St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Percussion Festival, in the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Missouri in St. Louis. The program was put together as a part of Juilliard's celebration of its centennial. The entire St. Louis Symphony percussion section (John Kasica, Richard Holmes, and Thomas Stubbs) happens to consist of alumni, which contributed to the special nature of this event. The evening also featured various percussion ensembles from the St. Louis metropolitan area, a dance troupe from Guinea, and the virtuoso percussion soloist Colin Currie. The Juilliard students performed along with the St. Louis Symphony percussionists and guests in Ionisation by Edgar Varèse, First Construction by John Cage, and Ballet Mécanique by George Antheil. They also had the privilege of performing under the baton of one of the great young conductors, David Roberston.

Juilliard percussionists practice phrases from various pieces onstage before the performance. (Photo by Joanna Trebelhorn)

The six Juilliard students (Tomoya Aomori, Michael Caterisano, Ying-Hsueh Chen, Joseph Nola, Chihiro Shibayama, and I) left New York on May 7 and arrived in St. Louis later that evening, with considerable free time to spend for the first three days. The fact that each piece was only rehearsed one time was astonishing to some students. Fourth-year percussionist Ying-Hsueh Chen remarked that it was "incredible to be able to put together such complex works in a matter of hours rather than weeks." Ted Rubright, one of the St. Louis Symphony's extra percussionists (and a Juilliard alum) remarked on the professionalism of the students and said that he was "not surprised, since that's the tradition there."

On Monday the students were invited to a luncheon with the maestro and soloist Colin Currie. They were able to ask both Robertson and Currie in-depth questions about the direction of classical music, the emerging predilection for composing for percussion, and the life of a percussion soloist, among other things.

The three pieces the Juilliard students performed in are among the most significant works of the early 20th century for percussion ensemble. The final piece on the program was especially enjoyable for the ensemble. Antheil's Ballet Mécanique is a large-scale work for 13 percussionists and four pianists and is very rarely performed. The scoring of four xylophones, airplane propellers, door bells, and various other instruments often make this piece logistically impossible to program. (As a side note, one of the pianists, Barbara Lieberman, is also a Juilliard alum.) Two Juilliard faculty composers were also represented on the program: the St. Louis Symphony percussionists performed Christopher Rouse's Ogun Badagris, while one of the local percussion ensembles played The Palace of Nine Imperfections, by Eric Ewazen, in the preconcert event.

The students were accompanied to St. Louis by Juilliard staff member Joanna Trebelhorn, whose tour managing expertise facilitated a flawless trip. Many of the students were surprised by the culture of this Midwestern city at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Some of the students were able to attend a St. Louis Cardinals game at the team's brand-new stadium, and others toured the Gateway Arch.

The professionalism of the Juilliard students and the hospitality provided by the percussionists, Maestro Robertson, and the city of St. Louis all made for a wonderful trip to the heartland. Robertson has done wonders with America's second oldest symphony orchestra, as was evident by the large crowd at the festival. He also hinted at the possibility of this becoming an annual event. If the success of this concert is a harbinger of  future success, the future looks bright.

The decision to join forces with The Juilliard School was lauded by all of the performers with whom we played. Thomas Stubbs reflected on his days at Juilliard and said that "those days are never far from our thoughts. Our love and appreciation for our percussion teachers there, Buster Bailey and Saul Goodman, have remained a constant topic of conversation in our 30-plus years playing together in the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra." One day, hopefully, the six students on this trip will have the opportunity to help guide a new generation of Juilliard percussionists.

Jacob Nissly is a master's student in percussion.