USCD 'Fish' to Splish, Splash at L.A. Phil

By Dirk Sutro I May 2, 2005

Cutting-edge music meets cutting-edge architecture when UCSD's percussion ensemble "red fish blue fish" and Steven Schick perform at the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 9. Joining the group for the performance, part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's "Green Umbrella" concert series, is L.A. Phil artist-in-residence Evelyn Glennie.

Both Glennie and red fish blue fish director Steven Schick have a penchant for unusual percussion instruments. Schick's collection ranges from flower pots, gourds, wood blocks, and all manner of drums, to something called "Sixxen"- a xylophone-like instrument created by Greek composer Iannis Xenakis. And Glennie's onstage arsenal has, at times, included water gongs, bamboo sticks, ceramic bells and car exhaust pipes. Glennie's celebrated virtuosity is made all the more impressive by the fact that she is deaf.

Schick, a professor in UCSD's Department of Music, is a world-renowned percussionist. He has commissioned more than 100 new works for percussion and has performed them in Warsaw, Budapest, Jerusalem, Stockholm and other major cities. His ongoing collaborations include projects with cellist Maya Beiser and pianist James Avery.

Red fish blue fish is UCSD Music Department's graduate student percussion ensemble, which features a changing cast of gifted performers. The group serves as a laboratory for the exploration of new work for percussion and tours extensively. Red fish blue fish has performed at the Bang on a Can Festival (New York City), the Agora Festival (Paris), the Centro des Bellas Artes (Mexico City) and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

At Disney Concert Hall, red fish blue fish and Glennie will play compositions ranging from Steve Reich's "Nagoya Marimbas" to Iannis Xenakis' "Rebonds."

If you can't go to Los Angeles, red fish blue fish takes the stage at UCSD on June 3 and 4, in collaboration with the Department of Theatre and Dance. Performances begin at 8 p.m. in Dance Studio 3, Wagner Dance Building.

For more information on the Disney Hall concert: http://www.laphil.org. For more on red fish blue fish at UCSD: http://music.ucsd.edu.