Bangers and Crash Percussion Group have announced a tour of Ireland this October with an exciting and eclectic programme. The percussion trio will be tackling the likes of Steve Reich, Phillip Glass and Tim Ouderits as well as a new composition by Alex Petcu in an 8-date hit and run tour of the country commencing in Dublin’s Sugar Club..
Alex Petcu first came to Goldenplec’s attention last year when we featured him in our Plec Picks 2018 series – read the feature on Alex Petcu here. So, we were very excited to learn that he had joined forces with Emma King and Brian Dungan once again for more adventures in percussion.
The trio will deliver a performance with dashes of Flamenco, Afro-Cuban, Javanese gamelan rhythms. As well as traditional percussion instruments such as marimba Bangers and Crash Percussion also utilise less traditional instrumentation such as broken tiles, with Petcu putting his scientific background to good use by creating new sounds.
Emma King has established herself as a Cajónero with exquisite performances at the Glasgow and London Drum Show in 2016. She has performed in masterclasses with Tom Greenleaves (Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig), Chris Lamb (New York Philharmonic), and soloist Colin Currie and become popular percussionist in the pop industry.
Emma joined the West End/Broadway Percussion show STOMP in 2014 and has toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia and South America with the show. She has also appeared at Live at the London Palladium on ITV and on our very own The Late Late Show. In October 2018 Emma performed in the world premiere production of the new opera by John O’Brien, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’
Brian Dungan works regularly with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Crash Ensemble as an orchestral percussionist and as timpanist for Fishamble Sinfonia. Notable performances include Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians with Crash Ensemble, Bang on a Can Allstars and S? Percussion, the Premiere of Word For Word by Irish composer Sam Perkin for a Crash Ensemble concert in the Hugh Lane Gallery and Irish premieres of Adès’ Powder Her Face (Northern Ireland Opera) and Totentanz (RTÉ NSO).
Check out the video below for a sample of how they bang and crash.
Bangers and Crash Percussion Group Programme:
Tim Ouderits & Tom Ouderits Surprise! | Alyssa Weinberg Table Talk | Elliot Cole Postlude No 8 | Philip Glass Madeira River | Steve Reich Nagoya Marimbas | Steve Snowden A Man with a Gun Lives Here | Alex Petcu Music Network Commission | Thierry de Mey Musique de Table | Gene Koshinski And So the Wind Blew
Tour Dates
The Sugar Club, Dublin 2 – October 2 – Tickets
The Large Room, City Hall, Waterford – October 3 – Tickets
Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, Wicklow – October 4 – Tickets
Station House Theatre, Clifden, Galway – October 5 – Tickets
Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise, Laois – October 8 – Tickets
Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, Mayo – October 9 – Tickets
Curtis Auditorium, CIT Cork School of Music, Cork – October 10 – Tickets
glór, Ennis, Clare – October 11 – Tickets
We chose Alex Petcu as one of our Plec Picks for 2018 – check out our feature interview and photoshoot here