Smooth and stormy music
11 Jun 2019
Year 9 student and percussion specialist Andrew Welsh has proved a master of the marimba, taking first place in the U19 solo percussionist section at the Big Bang percussion competition, held at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School on Sunday 9 June.
Andrew performed “Sea Refractions” by Mitchell Peters, one of his favourite works. “It’s a piece that’s mimicking the sea. It starts smooth, gets stormy and then fades away, finishing as if the sea is calm again.”
After learning to play the drums, Andrew turned his attention to percussion because he believes it offers more opportunities, especially in an orchestra. “Anything you can hit, shake or scrape is deemed a percussion instrument, and percussion is used to keep the rhythm, make special sounds and add excitement and colour to a performance.”
While Andrew enjoyed being in the spotlight at the Big Bang, he is equally content to take his place at the back of the orchestra, adding to the richness of the whole.
