Guest artist Bob Becker—described as one of the greatest percussionists in the world— will perform on the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus Thursday night with the Percussion Ensemble.
Directed by Alison Shaw, the UWO Percussion Ensemble event takes place at 7:30 p.m. in the Music Hall of the Arts and Communications Building, 1001 Elmwood Ave. UW Oshkosh students with a University ID will be admitted free. General admission is $6, non-UWO students are $4 and children 12 and under are $1.
Becker is a legendary ragtime xylophone player and will be featured as a soloist in many songs—on the xylophone and other instruments.
“Bob Becker is recognized as the greatest ragtime xylophone player alive,” said Elizabeth DeLamater, who instructs percussion at UW Oshkosh . “He and his percussion ensemble, NEXUS, are responsible for resurrecting a forgotten art form, and Bob’s dazzling playing has inspired thousands of artists.”
The UW Oshkosh Naker Society—a student organization dedicated to educating the student body and community about the field of percussion, its traditions and performance and promoting the use of music in everyday life—helped fund Becker’s UWO visit.
“Bob Becker is also recognized in other genres of music and instruments: tomorrow night’s concert will feature his rudimental drumming expertise and his own musical compositions,” DeLamater added. “An excellent teacher, Mr. Beck is not only rehearsing with the UWO students, but also working with them on listening and performance concepts. This will be demonstrated in a large collective improvisation led by Mr. Becker tomorrow night.”
DeLamater said UWO Percussion Ensemble members have been preparing for the concert for months. Becker has helped the group fine-tune the music and broaden their creativity. She called it a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to perform with Becker.
“This concert is not to be missed,” DeLamater said.
Extensive resume
Becker’s performing experience spans nearly all of the musical disciplines where percussion is found. Generally considered to be one of the world’s premier virtuoso performers on the xylophone and marimba, he appears regularly as a soloist and clinician. In particular, his work toward resurrecting the repertoire and performance styles of early 20th century xylophone music has been recognized internationally.
Becker cofounded the percussion group NEXUS and has performed with them around the world since 1971. In 1999, he and the other members of the group were inducted into the Percussive Arts Society’s Hall of Fame. For the past 40 years, Becker also has been a regular member of the ensemble Steve Reich and Musicians.
His clinics and workshops cover a wide variety of percussion topics, including North Indian tabla drumming, West and East African percussion, “melodic” snare drumming, rudimental arithmetic, creative approaches to cymbal playing and ragtime xylophone improvisation concepts. In 2006, Becker was recognized as a “Master Drummer” by the International Association of Traditional Drummers, an organization founded by the legendary rudimentalist John S. Pratt.
Becker holds the degrees bachelor of music with distinction and master of music (performance and literature) from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied percussion with William Street and John Beck, and composition with Warren Benson and Aldo Provenzano.
Since 1988, Becker has been associated with the Malletech company, where he helped design the Ragtime/Soloist xylophone, as well as the Bob Becker signature xylophone mallets and snare drum sticks. He also is an endorser and designer for the Sabian cymbal company and was honored with Sabian’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
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