Music Festival concert to feature DPU percussion professor Ming-Hui Kuo

Monday, July 17, 2017

The Greencastle Summer Music Festival continues its weekly free concerts on Wednesday, July 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church with a performance featuring percussionists Ming-Hui Kuo and her friends Ben Hogan and Ben Freeland.

The concert will feature a wide variety of styles in a program that includes “Drei Skizzen,” a marimba duo that is written in three movements; “Rancho Jubilee” for three cajons; “Available in Blue,” a vibraphone solo; “Intermezzo Sinfonico” from “Cavalleria Rusticana,” a transcription from the opera work; “Choro No. 9” written in Brazilian folk music style; “Monkey Chant”; “In the History of Man,” a duet for marimba and drum set and “Tajin” for percussion trio and Soundscape.

The festival’s free concerts are made possible by donations from individuals and businesses, including the festival’s main corporate sponsor, the Inn at DePauw, as well as an endowment at the Putnam County Community Foundation.

Kuo began to study percussion at 14 after enrolling in Guo Guang Performing Arts High School, she started studies with Pei-Ching Wu, the principal of Ju Percussion Group (JPG) and continued through her graduation from Eternal Life Christ College in Taiwan.

Ming-Hui Kuo

Kuo earned her Master of Music degree at Morehead State University in 2003. In 2012 she earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance at the University of Kentucky.

Kuo was an intern performing member of Ju Percussion Group from 1993 to 2002. During her time with JPG, she performed in more than 500 concerts and hundreds music-related activities, her international performance with JPG includes China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong-Kong, Macao, Spain, Hungary, Australia, Canada and the United States. In 1999, Kuo was a co-founder of the Butterfly Percussion Quartet with Pei-Ching Wu. In 2011, Kuo co-founded XPlorium Chamber Ensemble with Nathan Nabb. XPlorium Ensemble has been invited for performances at the 2011 WASBE Conference and 20th Chiayi City International Band Festival.

Kuo formerly was adjunct professor of percussion at Morehead State University in Morehead, Ky., from 2007 to 2014. She is currently a part-time assistant professor of percussion at DePauw and freelance musician at Indianapolis area.

The Greencastle Summer Music Festival continues July 26 with the jazz pianist and vocalist Ariel Pocock.

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