Performed by the University of Oklahoma Percussion Ensemble
Dr. Lance Drege, conductor

Limerick Daydreams
Copyright © 2004 C. Alan Publications (www.c-alanpublications.com)

Also be sure to check out the performance discussion with Nathan Daughtrey!    • Video  

ABOUT THE PIECE:
Dedicated to Dr. Cort McClaren and the UNCG Percussion Ensemble, Limerick Daydreams was the 2nd Place Winner of the 2005 Percussive Arts Society International Composition Contest. The 12-minute work scored for 10 percussionists is based on the Irish reel, Highway to Limerick. The work opens rather mysteriously with fragments of the tune in the keyboard instruments and echoes of a bodhran (a traditional Irish drum) emulated by a dampened bass drum. A raucous drumming section ensues and gives way to the first full presentation of the reel in the xylophone. What follows is a series of melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic transformations of the Irish tune -- some quite playful, some beautifully melancholy, and some majestically resolute.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER:
Percussionist, composer, & educator Nathan Daughtrey (b. 1975) is a musical chameleon who uses his wide-ranging talents to adapt comfortably to a variety of environments. As a performing artist and clinician for Yamaha percussion, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, and Zildjian cymbals, he has performed and given masterclasses and clinics throughout the United States and across three continents. Nathan has recorded two solo marimba albums to date -- "Spiral Passages" and "The Yuletide Marimba" -- as well as several chamber music albums, including a recent collaboration with euphoniumist Brian Meixner titled "Praxis."

With over 60 publications for percussion ensemble, concert band, orchestra, chamber ensembles, and soloists as well as an ever-growing number of commissions, Nathan balances his performing with composing, and to great acclaim. He is the only composer in the history of the Percussive Arts Society International Composition Contest to procure both 2nd and 3rd place in the same year with his percussion ensemble works "Limerick Daydreams" and "Adaptation," respectively. Nathan's compositions appear regularly on performances at PASIC, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the Bands of America National Percussion Festival, and in concert halls and other performance venues around the world. His works have also been recorded on several albums by respected performers, including the FSU Percussion Ensemble, the Showa Wind Symphony conducted by Ray Cramer, the RoseWind Duo, and Mississippi State University. Additionally, three of his compositions for wind ensemble have been featured in three volumes of "Teaching Music Through Performance in Band."

For more information: http://goo.gl/sjqfyi

ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE:
One of the most highly acclaimed percussion programs in the United States, the Percussion Area at the OU School of Music is recognized for excellence in the areas of pedagogy, performance, recording, commissioning, and publishing. OU percussion graduates hold positions as performers and academicians throughout the country.

An associate professor in the School of Music at the University of Oklahoma, Lance Drege directs the percussion program, teaches applied percussion, conducts the OU Percussion Orchestra, and teaches other percussion related courses. From 1997-2002, Dr. Drege also served as Assistant to the Director for the School of Music. Prior to coming to OU, Drege taught public school instrumental music in Hobart, OK and Elk City, OK.