LANCASTER FESTIVAL

Former LHS percussionist performs solo

Barrett Lawlis
Reporter

LANCASTER – Lancaster High School graduate Clark Hubbard entertained and educated the crowd gathered during his Matinee at the Mall performance Tuesday for the Lancaster Festival.

Clark Hubbard plays "Mr. Hi-Hat" Tuesday at River Valley Mall. Hubbard played on a wide variety of percussion instruments during his performance.

Playing a variety of percussion instruments and demonstrating his abilities on each one, Hubbard said he was excited for the chance to perform.

Hubbard, now a percussion performance major at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, said that he had planned on being a part of the festival but had not been expecting to perform in it.

"I applied to be a part of the stage crew, and while (there), I met Joe Piccolo," he said.

When Piccolo discovered that Hubbard was a musician, he invited the student to perform.

Hubbard opened his concert at the River Valley Mall with Lynn Glassock's piece "Motion," followed by Bach's "Cello Suite No. 1 prelude" on the marimba. He explained that the repertoire for percussion performers is still young and that most of the early pieces are simply transcribed from string instrument pieces.

Halfway through the concert, Hubbard played a game with the audience, quizzing everyone gathered there on various instruments and rewarding those who answered questions correctly with drumsticks or towels. After each instrument was named, he would play a selection with it.

One such selection was inspired by John Cage, an American music theorist who taught indeterminacy, a musical practice that doesn't follow strict music theory and is "played by ear." Hubbard gathered dishes from around the house, including casserole pans, bowls, and glasses, to perform "found object music," a skill most percussion performers need to study.

"I went around my house, and collected all these dishes. I tuned the glasses with water so that they play in a scale," said Hubbard, demonstrating the different pitches.

He then went on to perform a melody "of sorts," incorporating Lancaster High School's fight song as a finale to the selection. Hubbard said that was his favorite piece to perform because it was so different.

"Time Machine" was Hubbard's next piece, which showed the necessity of math in music.

"In music, you can play triplets, which are three beats to one count of music, and then there are doubles, which are two beats for one count of music," he said.

For the piece, Hubbard played triplets with his right hand and doubles on his left, then switched hands halfway through the song.

Hubbard played a variety of pieces, ranging from classical to modern. He offered advice to any up and coming musicians:

"If you enjoy doing something, go after it. That's how I ended up here today."