Percussion Show Offers Aural Journey

Eclecticism is a matter of course at CalArts, but the percussion department may take the prize. For that, they can partly thank John Bergamo, who has been at the school since 1970.

For a lesson in how diverse percussion can be, check out tonight’s CalArts Percussion Concert, an annual showcase for percussion activities at the campus. Organized by Bergamo and fellow percussion faculty member David Johnson, both of whom will perform with students, the concert will veer in many directions.

When he arrived in Valencia, Bergamo was open-minded in his view of music, having moved freely between classical, jazz and various percussion traditions from around the world. He landed in the right place.

“I don’t know if we were the first, but I think we were at least one of the first to use that phrase ‘world music’ as a program,” he said. “I signed my contract in 1969 and they were talking about ‘world music’ and I was saying, ‘What’s that?’ We had Ravi Shankar on the faculty at that time.”

Bergamo’s resume includes work with musicians as varied as John McLaughlin, Frank Zappa, and Robert Shaw.

Also scheduled to be performed are minimalist Steve Reich’s fairly legendary study in rhythmic texture, “Marimba Phase,” and Lou Harrison’s short but fiendishly difficult “Fugue for Percussion,” written in 1940.

“When it was written, people said it would never be played because it’s so difficult,” Bergamo said. “It’s only about five minutes long, but it’s got some of the hairiest rhythms you’ve ever seen. It’s a beautiful piece, incredibly constructed.”

The concert will include an exhibition of an instrument from Ghana called the kitepo.

“There are two seed pods that are circles connected with a string,” Bergamo said. “You hold one in your hand and do all these tricks. There are all these incredible rhythms they get.”

The CalArts Percussion Concert starts at 8 p.m. in CalArts’ Roy O. Disney Hall, 24700 McBean Parkway in Valencia. Admission is free. Call (661) 253-7832 for more information.