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News Release

Contact: Mark McGowan, NIU Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-9472

November 10, 2003

NIU percussion quartet to perform
at Percussive Arts Society International Convention

DeKalb — Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos will be there. So will Jimmy Chamberlin, who drummed for The Smashing Pumpkins. So will Steve Smith, whose powerful tom-tom fills punctuated Journey’s biggest hits in the 1980s.

And so will the Base4 Percussion Quartet, a group from the Northern Illinois University School of Music invited to perform Saturday, Nov. 22, at the annual Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Louisville, Ky.

Members of the quartet – graduate student Steve Lundin and seniors Andy Bliss, John Pobojewski and Patrick Schleker – won the collegiate division of the international percussion ensemble competition.

They will play before 7,000 fellow percussionists from every corner of the globe.

“It’s pretty competitive,” said Rich Holly, associate dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts and a professor of percussion. “This is the only international competition of its kind, and groups from all over the world apply for this.”

“We’re really excited,” Bliss said. “We got the notification in June, and we were all on the phone with each other, screaming our heads off.”

The group’s audition tape, recorded on campus, consisted of four songs: “Ogoun Badagris,” “The Persistence of Past Chemistries,” “The Whole Toy Laid Down” and a selection of traditional Ugandan xylophone and drumming.

For their concert, they will play three of their competition submissions along with “Omphalo Centric Lecture,” “Bowing-Bowing” and Ravel’s “String Quartet, Movement II.”

NIU audiences can enjoy a sneak peak at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall of the Music Building – possibly the penultimate performance by the group, whose members already are scattered.

The quartet came together about 18 months ago, when the four members realized they always were helping the others with required recitals.

“We just started putting together a group,” Bliss said. “Our first goal was to develop ensemble rehearsal techniques, working with the same guys and developing those communication skills. Our second goal was to further our percussion repertoire.”

“They got together pretty much on their own, using me and (fellow professor) Robert Chappell as coaches only occasionally. They did most of the rehearsing completely on their own, maybe some weeks of 10 to 12 hours a week,” Holly said. “Now, getting ready for the convention, they’re rehearsing Friday night, all day Saturday and all day Sunday. These guys are totally dedicated and extremely excited.”

Base4 originally practiced twice a week, two hours at a time, and played a concert on campus early last spring.

They recorded their PASIC audition tape with no expectations. Earning top honors has meant unforeseen obstacles since August, when only Bliss and Schleker returned to campus.

Lundin, still a graduate student, has moved to New York for work and now flies back to Illinois every weekend. Pobojewski, now a graduate student, has moved to Elgin and taken a design job in Chicago.

Bliss and Schleker, both of whom will complete their bachelor’s degrees in the spring, are making plans for graduate school. Neither knows yet where that might take them.

“It’s a big opportunity,” Bliss said of PASIC, “but, unfortunately, because of the geographical situation right now, we’re not sure how much further we’re going to be able to go. We have tentative plans to see where things are and see if we can’t get back together.”

PASIC features performances and clinics presented by percussionists of all kinds, including keyboard percussion specialists, world percussionists, orchestra percussionists and educators.

Holly, president elect of the Percussive Arts Society, said this is the first time an NIU group has won the collegiate division and its instant invitation.

However, other School of Music groups have earned the right to perform in years past. The world-renowned NIU Steel Band has made three trips, he said, and many NIU alumni have performed and presented clinics.

Meanwhile, many percussion students attend the four-day convention – a demographic Bliss hopes packs the audience Nov. 22.

The six pieces feature several textures – “The Persistence of Past Chemistries” involves only wood instruments, including marimba, xylophone, wood blocks and log drums, and on other pieces the drummers play with their hands and feet to boost the layers of sound – and are “pretty energetic, pretty loud and exciting.”

Pobojewski, the designer, also has created multimedia visuals to back the performance. Audiences will see slides of Uganda and the Ugandan amadinda while hearing it played, and the interactive video shown during “Ogoun Badagris” is cued to match the music in an “MTV meets percussion ensemble” style.

“I hope the audience just sees what can be made out of a student group. If you put the right amount of effort into something while you’re in college, you can really go far with it. We’ve been really creative with this and tried to take it to a new level. Hopefully people will see what creativity and determination can produce,” Bliss said.

“We hope to give our best performance there. It’s a really nice capstone to what started as four guys just getting together to prepare for each other’s recitals.”

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