On Sunday night, DePauw University had the opportunity to welcome Professor Grey Beyer and his Northern Illinois University quintet to the Green Center for Performing Arts Thompson Recital Hall. The program, “New Music for an Ancient Instrument”, featured the berimbau (bee-rim-bau), an Afro-Brazilian bow instrument.
“The music was really interesting,” said freshman Zach Suchanek, who is a member of DePauw’s percussion ensemble. “It was a little bit trance-like, just because of… the acoustics and the very physicality of their playing. Overall, it was a very enjoyable concert.”
The berimbau itself originates from southern Africa. For Beyer, his connection the instrument came years ago.
“It was kind of an accident,” said Beyer, who is the head of percussion studies at Northern Illinois University. “I was at a drum shop in New York City… and I heard this amazing sound coming from the back of the shop, so I went and took a look and saw what was going on. Someone was playing this instrument in a very virtuosic way. It was captivating for me, the sound, I fell in love with it.”
Fifteen years later, in 2013, Beyer, along with one of his undergraduate students, Alexis Lamb, began Arcomusical. Each semester, the group is taking on a composition from berimbau chamber works, which will continue through the spring.
Beyer and his group also led a master class yesterday in the Green Center, where they discussed important aspects of the berimbau and of music in general.
“It’s very commonly said that music is a universal language,” said Beyer. “When you allow elements of a musical language to penetrate your mind, body, and spirit… then you can reassemble that material and give it back to the world. You’re assimilating a language.”