In their first performance of the season, Wichita State University's Impulse Percussion Group (IPG) will rock the stage with "Sticks, Steps, and Rock 'n' Roll," at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, in Miller Concert Hall, Duerksen Fine Arts Center.

General admission is $7, with $6 discount tickets available for WSU faculty and staff, military or seniors, or $3 for non-WSU students. Fine arts events are always free for WSU students with ID. Tickets for the event are on sale at the Fine Arts Box Office noon-5 p.m. weekdays in the lobby of Duerksen Fine Arts Center. Contact the box office at 316-978-3233. Tickets can also be purchased online at wichita.edu/fineartsboxoffice.

“Sticks, Steps, and Rock ’n’ Roll” is an innovative collaboration with the WSU Dance Department and the School of Engineering. The Impulse Percussion Group will be featured during “Feast,” a WSU Dance event that includes Charlotte Boye-Christensen’s professional dance company, NOW-ID, in performance with WSU Performing Arts resident touring dance company, Wichita Contemporary Dance Theatre, Friday, Nov. 21, and Saturday, Nov. 22, in Miller Concert Hall.

“The Impulse Percussion Group is so lucky to have the opportunity to collaborate with Wichita Contemporary Dance Theatre,” said Associate Professor of Music Gerald Scholl, director, “as well as Charlotte Boye-Christensen, who has been brought in by the WSU Dance Department.

“When IPG takes the stage,” Scholl said, “the audience will experience something unlike other music performances. Lighting and other theatrical techniques will draw the audience in and move their attention around the stage.”

The event includes works from disparate genres, including Alan Hovhaness “October Mountain,” a five-movement piece built on Asian themes, and Aurel Hollo’s “Jose beFORe John 5,” which features instruments from around the globe and the unconventional use of an acoustic guitar.

Adding more interest to the event will be four movements of Maurice Ravel’s “Le Tambeu de Couperin,” performed by four percussionists, three vibraphones, one marimba and a glockenspiel.

Innovative collaboration

In addition to other performances, one key excerpt from “Feast” will be the premiere of a new musical composition, “Towers,” a collaborative, original work still in the creation stage. To create this composition, IPG turned to the expertise of Tom McGuire, Wichita artist and engineering educator assistant. On loan from the collection of Ann Garvey, a pair of “drum towers” will produce a range of electrically engineered light and drum sounds for the performance from what McGuire described as a stack of recycled trash.

“From beginning to intermission, there is really no break,” Scholl said. “The whole idea is to create a seamless event. The audience is always going to be engaged by something.”

According to the WSU Percussion Department, IPG is composed of 10 of Wichita State’s finest percussionists, who create forward-thinking, engaging performances that run counter to audiences’ expectations.

“This is a chance for us to put the tux away and get creative with music,” said Michael Carp, an Impulse Percussion Group member and graduate teaching assistant. “The collaboration with the dance department will add an exciting element that you just can’t find anywhere.”