East meets West! This percussion program can meet your multicultural needs as it compares/contrasts the use of the elements of music in the West with the East - India, for example. K-12, Payton starts the global tour with rhythm, and then goes around the world with creativity, composition and improvisation!

"Fresh and energetic performances ... leaves you breathless." ---LA Times about Alarm Will Sound

About the program

Payton MacDonald, founder of Alarm Will Sound and professional marimbist/tablist, has been committed to arts education since he was a doctoral candidate at the Eastman School of Music. Now on the faculty at William Paterson University in New Jersey, MacDonald has created an ensemble that truly has East meet West, teaching the elements of music as they appear within different cultural traditions. Whether it be African or Balinese, Indian tabla drumming or contemporary American sounds, Payton and his colleagues in percussion will give students the opportunity to compare and contrast music across cultures by using rhythm, perhaps the most accessible of the elements of music.

A variety of percussion instruments from around the world will be on hand, and plenty of opportunity for students to experience a broad range of human expression and its social functions!

Availability:	March 2009
Costs for programming:	$1,080/day*
Program format:	Assembly
Audience limit:	250/elementary 300/MS & HS
* Prices above reflect significant subsidy from New Performing Arts' fundraising with arts education supporters statewide and nationally.

About the Artist

Payton MacDonald performs with Alarm Will Sound, a new-music group based in New York City that the NY Times has referred to as “the future of classical music.” Alarm Will Sound is currently regarded as one of the foremost new music ensembles in the country and has recorded three discs, on the Nonesuch and Cantaloupe labels. With Alarm Will Sound MacDonald has performed at New York's finest concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Miller Theater, Merkin Hall, and Symphony Space. In residence at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania,Alarm Will Sound has performed in Boston, San Francisco, and Minneapolis as well.

From 1994-2004 MacDonald performed with Verederos, a flute and percussion duo, performing concerts nationwide and recording two CDs under the Equilibrium label. The duo won the 2002 National Flute Association chamber music competition. MacDonald also directs the Payton MacDonald Ensemble, an innovative new group dedicated to performing his music; and he frequently appears as a marimba soloist with Super Marimba. With Super Marimba MacDonald performs his own amplified music using looping machines and delay pedals. He has also appeared as a soloist in England and Croatia, performed with Present Music, and toured Japan with Keiko Abe and the Galaxy percussion group.

MacDonald earned his BFA from the University of Michigan, where he studied percussion with Michael Udow. He earned his MM, DMA, and the Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music where he studied percussion with John Beck and composition with Robert Morris and Augusta Read Thomas. Further studies include tabla with Bob Becker and Pandit Sharda Sahai, with whom he studies in India. Mr. MacDonald currently teaches percussion at William Paterson University in New Jersey.