Eastern Illinois University students showcased their ability to play different percussion instruments at the Percussion Ensemble on Tuesday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Doudna Fine Arts Center’s Black Box Theatre. 

One of the audience members, Melissa Tutterow, parent of one of the performers, said that the performance was amazing and applauded the student performance. 

“It’s interesting to watch,” Tutterow said. “It was just really good. It’s fun to see your student grow.” 

The first act of the concert was made of two songs from Afro-Cuban music and was played by the students alongside professor of percussion and director of the ensemble Jamie Ryan. 

“There is some folklore music from Cuba that I have been a long-time student, performer and teacher of,” said Ryan. “I include it in my curriculum here because it’s really musically and culturally beneficial to college-age students.” 

The performance had a special guest in the form of Ian Shepherd, a professional musician since 1992, who performed alongside students and had a solo. 

Quentin Scott, a music education major and performer, said that the performance from the ensemble students was amazing because many of the students were not playing instruments they usually play. 

Throughout a percussion ensemble performance, the musicians move between different instruments and do not stay playing the same one the whole time. 

 “I think people were put in their weakest areas to try to improve,” Scott said. “But the progress that they’ve made during the semester has been pretty good.” 

Ryan said he was happy with how the ensemble sounded in the Black Box. 

“I like programming our concerts in there or in the proscenium theater,” Ryan said. “You can get right up close to them and the acoustics are much more controlled, so it’s easy for us to fill the room with sound.” 

Another one of the performers was music education major Brayden Kiser who played several different instruments throughout the concert like the bata drums and conga. 

Bata drums are a type of drum that has its start in west part of Africa but made its way to Cuba in the 18th century. 

Kiser said that he was most excited for having the ability to perform with the guest that night. 

“I’m really excited to play with the guest drummer,” Kiser said. “It was like, just a piece of the puzzle that was missing is finally here, and it finishes really well.” 

Addison O’Brien, a psychology major who came to the concert for a friend that was performing, found themselves unhappy with the guest performer being a large part of the concert. 

“I’m not complaining about the students, they were amazing,” said O’Brien. “It was so cool that the students could do that with just percussion instruments, and then you have an entire solo in there that wasn’t performed by any of them.” 

Rob Crownson can be reached at 581-2812 or at rjcrownson@eiu.edu.