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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, contemporary classical and jazz. The duo combines the talents of James Armstrong, a performer specializing in Afro-Cuban 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. AVAILABLE
NOW!! |
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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: |
| 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. |
| News, media, and upcoming events | |
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AFRICA MARASSA I CAFFEINE SUMMER EVENING SERENITY Reflections
on the Nature of Water CROSS HATCH MARASSA II Songs to Obatalá SONGROADS SEA JOURNEY
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Summer
Evening Serenity Hermitage Listen to these excerpts from our debut CD: Marassa
I
watch MARASSA DUO Live in action: |
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dates currently being booked for October 2008 check back for updates
for info on how you can host MARASSA DUO recent NEWS MARASSA DUO most recently completed tour dates in Ontario and Michigan. This past August we tracked a version of MARASSA II at Wilburland studios in Newfield, NY. We hope to have a new release sometime in the near future. For details and phots visit our myspace page. The duo was featured at the 13th Annual International
Percussion Festival" in San Juan, Puerto Rico this past August. Check out the June issue of PAS "Percussive Notes"
and the stellar review of our debut CD
visit us on MySpace: |
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premiering "MARASSA II"
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Marassa Duo in San Juan, Puerto Rico, August 2006
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| About MARASSA DUO | |
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Nicholas Papador is currently a special, sessional instructor of percussion at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. He completed the Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University as well as a master's degree at Indiana University where his efforts earned him the university's coveted Performer's Certificate. As a soloist, percussionist, and timpanist, he has performed in Sweden, Austria, Hungary, Canada, and throughout the United States. His most recent orchestral appointment was as principal percussionist/ assistant timpanist with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. His regular orchestral appearances with regional orchestras have led to recordings on the Ludwig/Elf and RIAX labels. As a chamber and freelance musician, Papador tours and performs with the Richard Grimes Collective, Marassa Duo, Paso Fino, and he appeared with Ensemble X during the 2005 Light in Winter Festival. He was also a founding member of both the High Street Percussion Ensemble and the Tonus Percussion Group. His scores and arrangements are published by Warner Brothers Music, Alfred/Studio 4 Music, House Panther Press, and Matrix Publishing. |
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James Armstrong currently teaches percussion at Elizabethtown College and is an active freelance percussionist in the 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. 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. |
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