A Different Drummer

"Percussion." The word covers dozens of wildly varied instruments and techniques --- from orchestral timpani playing to jazz drumming to solo marimba recitals, from avant-garde music for assorted bizarre instruments to the steel drums of the tropical islands and African djembe groups.

Stout and his students perform at the 2002 Commencement Eve Concert.

Tracing its roots to the very beginning of collegiate percussion instruction in the early 1950s, the program at IC works hard to bring the full range of these experiences to its students. This fall marks the 22nd year it is under the direction of Gordon Stout, who has been hailed as "one of the best marimba players in history" by Young Concert Artists and who is widely respected around the world.

Stout is the primary percussion teacher, though most of the 24 or so undergraduate percussion majors study privately with the part-time faculty member, Conrad Alexander, during their sophomore year. "One of Gordon's specialties," says Alexander, "is guiding marimba students' development of ideokinetics --- the art of playing the instrument by feel and not having to look down at the bars while you play."

Students agree that Stout's system works. "It really helped me a lot," says Laura Bilodeau '03. "Gordon also fixed, in one of my first lessons, a problem in my snare drum playing that I'd been struggling with for years."

While he is known internationally as a marimbist, as a teacher Stout takes a "total percussion" approach; all undergraduate percussionists, regardless of major, are expected to be proficient on the entire vast array of percussion instruments. Bilodeau points out, "He is an incredible marimbist, but that sometimes overshadows the fact that he's just as good on all the instruments." Gina Alduino '02 agrees: "Most of us came to IC mainly because of him. He's a great teacher, very down-to-earth and easy to work with." Bilodeau adds, "He's also always there for us --- he's like our dad."

Stout blends the students' need for "total percussion" technical proficiency with study of the marimba, principally for the sake of developing musicianship. To enhance an ensemble's performance, percussionists must understand how their part fits into the musical whole. Stout strongly believes that in-depth study of the melodic and harmonic elements in the music of the great masters is essential, so percussionists at IC can often be found practicing and performing transcriptions for marimba of, for instance, Bach's music for solo violin or cello.

As a student for six years at the Eastman School of Music, where he received both bachelor and master of music degrees, Stout gave two solo recitals a year. He believes that having frequent recitals is an important part of the collegiate experience, and his own students give solo performances regularly. They also perform with one of two percussion ensembles and other school ensembles. The percussion ensembles have a popular steel drum component, and a student-run djembe ensemble performs African and African-inspired music on authentic instruments.

The percussionists at IC have an extraordinary inventory of instruments at their disposal for rehearsals and practice. There are five complete sets of timpani, four drum sets, three five-octave marimbas, six other marimbas (including the rather rare bass marimba), four vibraphones, four xylophones, and dozens of auxiliary instruments. "We are extremely fortunate to have this wonderful inventory of instruments," says Stout.

Beyond IC, Stout has given 12 presentations/recitals at International Percussive Arts Society conventions. He has performed and given workshops around the world. A jury member for two Leigh Howard Stevens International Marimba Competitions, Stout also performed at the first World Marimba Festival and adjudicated at the second; this summer he adjudicated at the third festival, held in Stuttgart, Germany. This summer he also taught at a percussion camp in Taiwan.

Stout is also a prolific composer and recording artist. Many of his works for marimba have entered the standard repertoire for marimbists, and his recordings of his own works as well as works of others are available on a variety of labels. His latest solo marimba recording project, Astral Projections, was released on Resonator Records last fall. Earlier recordings include Stout: Music for Solo Marimba, Gordon Stout: II (Studio 4 Productions), Alec Wilder's Music for Marimba with Other Instruments (Golden Crest Records), and Nola: The Eastman Marimba Band (Mercury Golden Imports).

The list of alumni now distinguishing themselves in the percussion field is long. Among them are Naoka Takada, M.M. '01, who this year won first prize at the Young Concert Artists international audition and first prize at the Ima Hogg National Young Artist Competition. She will perform with the Houston Symphony Orchestra this fall. Valerie Naranjo, M.M. '82, a specialist in African xylophone music, plays for The Lion King on Broadway. Dave Gluck '89 performs with Rhythm and Brass. Other graduates teach at Lawrence University, the University of Texas at Austin, Friends University, and Northwestern University, among other institutions, and yet others perform and record in venues around the world.

Stout is understandably proud of his current and former students. He especially takes pride in showing pre-1999 alumni the wonderful facilities in the Whalen Center when they come back to visit --- which is often. "Though they are a bit envious of the new facilities, they usually comment that they managed to get a good education," he says, "even during the old days."