The Wichita State University Percussion Ensemble, Impulse Percussion Group will perform its final performance of the season, "Matadors y Maracas," at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 27, in Miller Concert Hall, Duerksen Fine Arts Center.

This performance will include five pieces, and IPG will join forces with WSU’s Suprima Chamber Orchestra to perform Rodion Shchedrin’s adaption of “Carmen,” from Bizet’s opera.

Bizet’s melodies have been reworked in this version with a variety of percussive instrumental colors set to new rhythms and phrased with sly wit. The piece was initially banned by the hierarchy of the Soviet Union for being disrespectful to the opera because of these qualities.

“Carmen” was originally written for ballet and features percussion and strings. The Grammy-nominated St. Petersburg Quartet established the Suprima Orchestra in 2011 after receiving the prestigious Quartet-In-Residence position at Wichita State, allowing students the opportunity to play with a professional chamber orchestra with world-renowned musicians.

'El Silencio'

This season’s performance will also feature a world premiere of “El Silencio,” a piece for solo maracas and percussion orchestra, written and performed by maraca virtuoso and composer Ed Harrison. Harrison is principal timpanist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and head of percussion at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. The performance is dedicated to IPG and its director, Assistant Professor Gerald Scholl.

Impulse Percussion Group will debut two other pieces for the Wichita audience at this one-night event: Gerard Lecointe’s “Apres Masque,” a piece based on the music of Claude Debussy written for a mallet percussion quintet, and Eckhard Kopetzki’s “Le Chant du Serpent,” a tribal, ritualistic quartet for eight drums that will highlight the primal side of the players.

Impulse Percussion Group is composed of 12 of Wichita State’s finest student percussionists, who create forward-thinking, engaging performances that run counter to audience’s expectations.

Tickets are available at the Fine Arts Box Office noon-5 p.m. weekdays in the lobby of Duerksen Fine Arts Center or online at wichita.edu/fineartsboxoffice. General admission is $7.

WSU students are eligible for one free ticket (not available online, see http://bit.ly/14iFjSS for details). For student ticketing assistance, please contact the Fine Arts Box Office 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, at 316-978-3233 or fastickets@wichita.edu.