167 - Robert van Sice

Robert van Sice is considered one of the world’s foremost performers of contemporary music for marimba. In an effort to establish the instrument as a serious artistic vehicle, he has premiered over 100 works throughout the world. Four of the seminal works in the marimba repertoire were written for him: Peter Klatzow’s Dances of Earth and Fire, Alejandro Viñao’s Estudios de Frontera, Martin Bresnick’s double marimba concerto, Grace; and James Wood’s Spirit Festival with Lamentations. Spirit Festival is unique in introducing the newly developed quarter-tone marimba, an innovative instrument recalling the marimba’s ancient sonic routes while establishing new parameters for modern expressionism. Watch here. Listen below. If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element 0:00 Intro and Hello 2:23 Teaching and perfomring? Nessasary to be both? 7:00 Job descriptions these days... Some thoughts on the new generation of students 11:55 Thoughts on Keiko Abe? 13:55 How has marimba writing and performance changed? 22:25 Ben: quick on James Wood. Your relationship with James Wood? 34:13 Podcast speed trivia 39:25 Developing your signature marimba and mallets. 46:26 Laurel's master class with Mr. Van Sice...oh...13 years ago...? 49:30 How education has changed higher-ed, for better and for worse.