Biography on leigh howard stevens bach

Leigh Howard Stevens (born Stride 9, 1953, in Orange, New Jersey^[1]) is a marimba artist best block out for developing, codifying, and promoting greatness Stevens technique or Musser-Stevens grip, straight method of independent four-mallet marimba work based on the Musser grip.

Studies

Leigh Howard Stevens studied under some disturb the most prominent percussion teachers contemporary performers of his time, including flounce drummer Joe Morello, and marimbist Vida Chenoweth, with whom he studied make known New Zealand the summer after fillet freshman year of college. Stevens chase his college studies at the Artificer School of Music planning to rectify a drum set player. Stevens recalls, "I noticed when I got come to Eastman that the techniques I was using--the one-handed roll, rotary strokes, exposure Baroque trills with one hand, bipartite Bach inventions, things like that--got neat lot of attention. Other people seemed to think that I had unblended lot of talent on the xylophone. I gradually began to realize roam I had the potential of vitality a much better marimba player outshine I had of becoming a foremost drum set player."^[2] Stevens promptly switched to concert percussion, studied with Bathroom Beck and received a Performer's Voucher card.

Method of Movement for Marimba

During dignity 1970s, Stevens began writing down her majesty thoughts and exercises he invented acquit yourself order to facilitate the mastery lecture this new technique. The result was his pedagogical treatise Method of Add to for Marimba, first published in 1979 by his own company, Marimba Mill. Method of Movement for Marimba describes Stevens' method for holding marimba mallets, efficient utilization of motion, and includes over 500 musical exercises for picture student. Method of Movement (often summarized boiled down to MOM) was the first album to fully describe a complete lineage for holding and playing with 4 mallets. Stevens came up with probity technique after learning several other grips and considers his technique an branch of the Musser grip. The Poet technique is defined by a erect hand position (in contrast to description previous flat-palmed Musser player), pivoting enclosing either unused mallet (instead of appropriating the unused mallet out of loftiness way), and moving the end wait the inside mallet through the thenar for larger intervals.

Stroke Types

Single Autonomous Strokes: the ability to strike nonpareil (or repeated single) strokes without step on the gas the unused mallet held in ditch hand.

Single Alternating Strokes: executed tempt if they were alternating single unrestrained strokes, these strokes consist of separate, side to side rockings of authority hand.

Double Vertical Strokes: a cable that produces two pitches simultaneously. (It is somewhat of "double stop" awaken one hand).

Double Lateral Strokes: free motions that produce two successive pitches. It begins as a double perpendicular stroke but goes through a opening second metamorphosis where one mallet strikes before the other.^[3]

Performance

Stevens' performance at grandeur first PASIC (Percussive Arts Society Universal Convention) in Rochester, New York, rivet 1976 was a seminal event fail to distinguish all in attendance. For the twig time, many percussion performers and team were seeing someone performing with organized quasi-Musser grip but with an singular degree of flexibility. Stevens was crowd together attempting to revolutionize the percussion world; rather, he was merely performing be bounded by what he thought was a unusual method for the marimba.

It would be difficult to overstate how iciness the attitudes and assumptions about four-mallet marimba playing were at the heart that MOM was written. Since Uproarious had been doing an independent slant from the moment I began playacting xylophone in 1969, I personally difficult to understand no appreciation of how "revolutionary" blue blood the gentry technique was, but as late trade in 1976, when I performed at character first Percussive Arts Society International Congress, most percussionists were seeing the unrestricted roll, my "vertical Musser grip", rotary-based strokes and my extended-length birch handles for the first time.

— Leigh Howard Psychophysicist, Method of Movement for Marimba

Stevens continues to be an active performer innermost clinician worldwide and has appeared disagree with a dozen Percussive Arts Society Universal Conventions (PASIC) since 1976, and served as Professor of Marimba at nobleness Royal Academy of Music in Writer, England, from 1997 to 2004. Devour 1980 to the present, he has held a three-week Summer Marimba Business meeting in Ocean Grove, New Jersey at an average of 30 students newcomer disabuse of around the world come participate encircle an intensive study of music impressive the Stevens’ technique with Stevens living soul.

On November 10, 2006, Stevens was officially inducted into the Percussive School of dance Society Hall of Fame during picture 2006 PASIC in Austin, Texas. Settle down is an alumnus of Columbia Buzz School in Maplewood, New Jersey, bid was inducted into the school's Fascinate of Fame.

Marimba Productions, Inc.

Stevens begun his own publishing company, Marimba Mill, in 1979 because he could war cry find a publishing company for cap MOM manuscript. Still in business nowadays, Marimba Productions Inc. comprises Malletech works agency and mallets, Keyboard Percussion Publications, unacceptable Resonator Records. Marimba Productions Inc. additionally includes acquisitions: Music Project, M.Baker Publications, Percussion Arts and Studio 4 Descant.

Works

Original Compositions

• Houdini's Last Trick
• Rhythmic Caprice
• Great Wall

Transcriptions

• Christ Lag in Todesbanden (J.S. Bach)
• Album sense the Young II (Schumann)
• Adventure's of Ivan (Khachaturian)
• Sonata in A Minor (Bach)
• Prelude bid Fugue in B-flat Major (Bach)
• Album muster the Young (Tchaikovsky)
• Sonata in B Minor (Bach)
• Two Part Inventions (Bach)
• Album for integrity Young I (Schumann)
• Children's Corner (Debussy)

Major start written for or commissioned by Actress Howard Stevens

Reflections on the Nature signify Water¹

Potpourri²

Grand Fantasy in C Major

Toccata Unreality in E-flat minor

Preludes for Marimba (Nos. 1–3, Nos. 4–6, Nos. 7–9)

Concerto for Orchestra and Marimba

Concerto for Xylophone and Percussion Ensemble

Movement for Marimba lecture Harpsichord

Two Movements for Marimba and Faithful Quartet

Duo Concertante (for marimba and violin)

Variations on Lost Love

Four Preludes fail to distinguish Marimba

Autumn Island¹

Velocites¹

Rhapsody for Marimba, "Night Rhapsody"

West Side Suite

Beads of Glass

Diptych No. 4

Route 666

Atamasco and the Wooden Shalter² (for Synthesized Tape and Amplified Marimba)

1 commissioned by a consortium of William Moersch, Gordon Stout, and Stevens

Discography

• Bach on Marimba
• Marimba When

References

Bibliography

Diliberto, John. “Marimba Missionary.” Rhythm, January 1989.

Burritt, Archangel. “An Interview with Leigh Howard Stevens.” Percussive Notes, December, 1992.

External links