Hatzis' Works Feature at International Marimba Festival

Apr 26th, 2010

Two of Christos Hatzis’ works for marimba and digital audio will feature at the Marimba 2010 International Festival and Conference this week in Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Beverley Johnston, one of Canada’s leading percussionists, will perform Hatzis’ works In the Fire of Conflict and Fertility Rites.

The Marimba 2010 International Festival and Conference will be a once-in-a-lifetime event held April 28-May 1, 2010, that will bring together the most innovative marimba artists worldwide and the most distinguished musical organizations in the Twin Cities for the common purpose of celebrating the marimba around the globe. Marimba 2010 will provide an opportunity for the leading personalities of this instrument to join forces with each other and the local community to engage in an unprecedented event comprised of performance, education and celebration.

In the Fire of Conflict and Fertility Rites are both works that Johnston has championed and performed at a number of recent festivals, including the Percussive Arts Society International Conference (2009), the Zeltsman Marimba Festival (2009) and the Nebojsa Zivkovic International Academy for Marimba and Percussion (2008).

Both works feature digital audio with the live marimba and percussion. Set in two continuous movements, the live percussion part in In the Fire of Conflict is performed with the rap music in the digital audio part, sourced from American rapper Steve Henry a.k.a. 'Bugsy H.', of the Christian rap group Poetik Disciples. The live percussion weaves constantly around the rap lyrics, often drawing melodic contours from the prosodic contours of the spoken text. Fertility Rites includes the sounds of Inuit throat singing. Hatzis writes: ‘The title of the work derives from the throat songs themselves. In one of our interviews in Iqaluit Keith and I learned that throat songs were originally a fertility ritual, a shamanistic mating call which the women performed while the men were out hunting. The katajjaq (vocal games) in this piece are used to evoke this primordial practice.’

Anticipating the upcoming performances and in response to being asked what it is like performing these works for fellow marimba players, Johnston comments: ‘Knowing the quality of all the marimba players who will be at the conference, it is a bit "scary" playing in front of all of them. BUT this conference is about sharing the music with everyone so I'm actually more excited than intimidated by the whole experience. It's amazing how supportive we are of each others' creativity!’

For more information, visit the Marimba 2010 Festival website.