Percussion at Peeler to offer art and music on Wednesday

The DePauw University Percussion Studio, directed by Bonnie Whiting, will present a program of solo and chamber works for percussion on Wednesday, April 30.

The 6 p.m. program is being staged in conjunction with the exhibition "Persian Visions," currently on display at The Galleries at Peeler in DePauw's Richard E. Peeler Art Center.

Conceived as a creative alternative to traditional concert settings, Percussion at Peeler has become a highlight of the annual performance calendar. The percussion group will be joined this year by guest flutists from the DePauw School of Music, as well as percussionist Allen Otte of Percussion Group Cincinnati.

The hour-long performance is a musical retelling of Farid ud-Din Attar's Sufic poem "The Conference of The Birds" with music by Reza Vali, Emily Doolittle, Peter Garland, Guo Wenjing and Qu Xiao-Song.

It includes birdsongs from around the world, within a visual environment of art and video installations by some of Iran's most celebrated photographers.

As an experience intended to entertain more than just one set of senses, the percussionists will surround the audience, move through the space and tell the story of the poem, as the music is being performed, with the gallery itself and the works of art within it allowing for a non-traditional use of the space.

The public is invited to attend to the free, family-friendly event and to join the artists for a reception following the performance.

"Persian Visions" was developed by Hamid Severi for the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, and Gary Hallman of the Regis Center for Art, University of Minnesota.