link to home page link to biography link to news and events link to performance groups link to photo gallery link to suggested listening link to suggested reading link to potpourri link to online resources

Marassa Duo
James Armstrong & Nicholas Papador, percussion



The Marassa Duo brings together a wide variety of percussion styles and musical genres into a concise and unified whole. The group’s original programming provides a unique chamber setting that includes elements of traditional concert music, world music, mallet percussion, jazz, and contemporary classical. The duo combines the talents of James Armstrong, a performer specializing in jazz, Afro-Caribbean and West African folkloric music and Nicholas Papador, a performer specializing in marimba as well as contemporary and orchestral concert music. The result is a ground breaking and exciting chamber music that opens new musical worlds to its audiences.

See the MARASSA DUO promo video on YouTube

Jim Armstrong and Nicholas Papador

Marassa Duo performs Songroads
The Marassa Duo performs "Songroads" at Cornell University.

The duo takes its name from the Marassa Twins, divine twins of the Haitian Vodou tradition who speak to us of twin souls that find each other lifetime after lifetime to interact as their karma dictates. Also exemplifying the belief of opposition and duality within the mortal world, the Marassa Twins constitute one of the more perplexing entities of the Haitian religion, beginning with the point that there are sometimes three of them. As anthropologist Maya Deren wrote, "In Vodoun, one and one make three." The Marassa are immensely powerful and are often interpreted as the “affirmation of cosmic unity."

The Marassa Duo is available for:
• Concerts
Clinics and masterclasses
Residencies
Send us an email for further information including current promotional material; contact Marassa Duo.

MARASSA DUO Concerts & Masterclasses
1 hour performance including repertoire from their current program.
90 minute masterclass sessions will include such topics as:
• The Marassa Duo composition process
• Incorporating traditional world percussion in the chamber music setting
• Ensemble performance practice and rehearsal technique

Specialized classes in traditional Afro-Cuban and Afro-Haitian hand drumming, marimba techniques, and composition are also available. Contact Marassa Duo for costs and availability.

Links, news, press, upcoming appearances


MARASSA DUO on MySpace
audio samples, photos, blog updates

MARASSA DUO on YouTube
video samples from recent performances

See us on the VicFirth website

 


purchase a copy of our debut CD MARASSA DUO

click here to order your copy

 

 

for print music scores of
MARASSA DUO compositions visit:

House Panther Press

 

 

 



*** UpComing appearances***

No shows scheduled at this time

for info on how you can host MARASSA DUO
email us

please take a moment and visit the sites of our sponsors:


VIC FIRTH

YAMAHA

LATIN PERCUSSION

SABIAN

PRESS

Download our press package (pdf format)

Vic Firth write up of our appearance at the
13th Annual International Percussion Festival
San Juan, Puerto Rico - August 2006

see review

About MARASSA DUO

Nicholas Papador is currently an assistant professor of music at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, where he coordinates the Percussion Studio and directs the Windsor Percussion Ensemble, and teaches courses in music theory and history topics. As a solo artist, percussionist, and timpanist, Papador has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Austria, Hungary, and Sweden. He has performed/presented at two Percussive Arts Society International Conventions. Dr. Papador is an artist endorser for the Vic Firth, inc. and Sabian, Ltd. Papador also serves as the president of the Percussive Arts Society Ontario Chapter. Papador performs regularly as an orchestral percussionist and timpanist and has recorded for CBC Radio and on the Ludwig/Elf and RIAX labels. Recent appointments include the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. Papador is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Music, Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, and University of Oregon School of Music. His principal teachers have included Michael Burritt, Gerald Carlyss, James Ross, Ruben Alvarez, Charles Dowd and Paul Wertico. Papador’s compositions are published by Alfred Publications, Keyboard Percussion Publications/Studio 4 Music, House Panther Press, and Bachovich Music Publications.

Nick Papador on MySpace

Nicholas Papador

James Armstrong currently teaches percussion at Elizabethtown College, is on faculty at DRUMS ETC in Lancaster, PA and is an active freelance percussionist in the greater Philadelphia area. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Central Michigan University and a Master of Music Performance from Bowling Green State University. He is a specialist in Haitian, Cuban, and West African folkloric drumming, and has done extensive field research and performance of this music throughout the United States and abroad. He has recorded and toured with the Robert Hohner Percussion Ensemble, Smallstone artists Five Horse Johnson, I-Town recording artist Paso Fino, Rising Sign (9-piece salsa band), PIONEROS del RITMO (latin jazz sextet), and many others. Recently, he can be seen performing with Philadelphia based singer/ songwriter Lili Añel, EJazz Trio, and various other Philly based artists. He is also Master Tambor for the Sosyete du Marche in Lansdale, PA. Mr. Armstrong is a Latin Percussion, Yamaha, Sabian, and Vic Firth artist, is the author of Vodou Drumset: Traditional Afro-Haitian Rhythms Applied to Drumset (Carl Fischer Publications), founder and president of House Panther Press, and is published through Drop6 Media.

James Armstrong on MySpace


home | bio | news & events | performance groups | photo gallery | suggested listening | suggested reading | potpourri | links
Web site design by Lynn Usack | © 2004 James Armstrong: jdapercussion@gmail.com