BROOKINGS – Aaron Ragsdale did not step up to the plate at Yankee Stadium. However, he did feel nervous before his May performance at the Peter Norton Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia in New York City.
“It’s like anything, whether it’s a sports or any performance metaphor, you could play baseball your whole life but if you were to step up to home plate at Yankee Stadium, it’s a different feeling at that moment the first time you do that,” he said. “There was a feeling that it seemed to be a bigger deal because of it being in New York and being the culmination of a two-year project.”
Ragsdale, an associate professor at South Dakota State University, had the opportunity to play in New York as a result of his being the Patricia Noethe-Pierce Artist-In-Residence.
A percussionist, Ragsdale’s recital consisted of newly composed works in both a solo and chamber setting. The electro-acoustic works of composers Steven Snowden, Emmanuel Séjourné and Brian Egan were paired with commissioned works by Gene Koshinski and Steven Danyew. The works explore and exploit the energy and unique timbres associated with contemporary percussion performance. Ragsdale was able to order the works as the artist-in-residence.
“When talking with David (Reynolds, director of SDSU’s School of Performing Arts), we talked about doing a large-scale event or a recital somewhere else. New York made a lot of sense, as the East Coast in general is a mecca for percussion,” Ragsdale said.
Ragsdale was familiar with playing in New York from his time as a graduate student at Rutgers. However, a few things created some anxious moments.
“The concert was at 5:30 and I met guys to load in equipment at noon – that’s a bit unusual, so yes, there was a little bit of nervousness there. Added to that was playing in a new space with new equipment,” he said.
“I knew I had a lot of supportive people in the audience, so that helped. I wanted to play well as there were some people who hadn’t seen me play before and I always want to do a good job for the composers.”
Koshinski, professor of percussion at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, wrote “Captions,” a multimovement piece scored for a single player performing on a multiple percussion setup built around vibraphone, glockenspiel and finger cymbals. Individual movements call for adding color through the use of wind chimes, a thunder tube, a suspended cymbal and whistling. Ragsdale also performed the piece at his spring faculty recital on campus.
“I really like what Gene does with textures,” Ragsdale said. “All of his pieces use regular, traditional instruments in nontraditional ways. I got what I asked for from Gene even though that one was hard. I really like the character of his piece.”
While Ragsdale is glad the recital is over, he’s appreciative of his time as the Patricia Noethe-Pierce Artist-In-Residence.
“It’s been a really motivating two years,” he said. “Being able to participate in a large-scale way got me reinvigorated to think about how to prepare programs and get them ready to go. Our student and faculty recitals could start to look different just from me going out there and seeing what’s possible in projection and performance space. And when you add the fact we’ll have the new Performing Arts Center expansion done, we’ll have the resources and ability to do that.”
Courtesy image: Shown is part of Aaron Ragsdale’s show poster for his performance at the Peter Norton Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia in New York City.
