March to a Different Drum This Summer

This story is published in cooperation with Willamette Week and the Oregon Symphony.

A solo tambourine shuffles an entire orchestra into a lively piece. Playful tones ring from ceramic bowls in a percussion-driven concerto. Thundering taiko drums rumble through the air in downtown Portland.

These are but a few of the rhythmic sounds that will pound, tap, ring, knock, plink, thump, crash, and clang as part of Bang It! – the Oregon Symphony’s upcoming celebration of all things percussion. Beyond being a percussive extravaganza, Bang It! is also a celebration of Portland; the festival features several performances from the Portland State University Percussion Ensemble and prolific Portland musicians.

At the heart of Bang It! is the opportunity for the entire city to experience the power, subtlety and importance of percussion in music. Two primary programs will find the Oregon Symphony spotlighting percussion across a range of pieces, while other community performances invite the public to experience drumming on the shores of Henry Hagg Lake, Taiko drumming outside the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and more.

Double time

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“Percussion & Rhythm,” the first of the two main performances of Bang It! will showcase the artistry of Grammy-nominated composer-in-residence, Andy Akiho. A renowned percussionist known for his creative use of found instruments – tuned rice bowls played with chopsticks, for example – Akiho debuted his Percussion Concerto in 2021. He will perform it along with soloists from the Oregon Symphony’s percussion section in two performances May 30 and 31.

Other numbers in that performance will include Brittany Green’s Testify!, a spirited piece that finds the orchestra cheering wildly after a tambourine opening, and the more classical Symphony No. 4 from Tchaikovsky, which masterfully employs timpani, bass drum and cymbals.

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The second show spotlights the Percussion Concerto from Danny Elfman. If that name sounds familiar, that’s because it should. A popular composer who was the lead singer for the 1980s band Oingo Boingo, Elfman is the musical master behind the scores for more than 100 feature films, from “Batman” and “Good Will Hunting” to “Men in Black.” He also composed the theme for “The Simpsons.”

Elfman’s singular concerto veers from playful to sinister, employing snare drums, a glockenspiel and other percussion instruments to create a rhythmic musical experience that’s as engaging to see live as it is hard to characterize.

Also part of the performance will be Steve Reich’s Music for Pieces of Wood, which is exactly what it sounds like: a piece played entirely with claves, small wooden cylinders tapped together to create an intriguing tapestry of sound. Two other numbers round out the program, John Adams’ The Chairman Dances and Respighi’s The Pines of Rome.

Percussion for the people

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Bang It!’s percussion focus aims to draw the community out not only to experience the performances but, in some cases, to take part in them. From 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, June 7, Oregon Symphony and the acclaimed Portland Taiko will present the free community event People of the Drum. Held outside on Southwest Main Street next to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, the family-friendly event will feature live music, drumming and dance workshops, including from the groups Mexica Tiahui, Oregon Korean Performing Arts and Alex Addy & Woshishijee.

Rounding out Bang It’s! rhythmic lineup: The Portland State Percussion Ensemble will perform Reich’s Drumming at 6 p.m. Sunday, May 31, in the Lincoln Recital Hall. They will also stage a second performance with Third Angle New Music for free in a unique and unexpected setting at 4 p.m Sunday, June 14: on the wooded banks of Henry Hagg Lake outside Forest Grove.

Through all of its performances and offerings, the Bang It! festival will explore the wonder of percussion. It’s sure to open eyes and ears to an array of styles and sounds that will be new and exciting to some and familiar and comforting to others. It’s rhythms. It’s percussion. And it’s community. Don’t miss it.

Learn more about Bang It! at www.orsymphony.org.