Daniel Edwards will perform a fundraiser concert at the Hyrum Civic Center at 7:30pm on January 2nd, 2014. He will perform a variety of works on both the marimba and the steel pan.
Admission is free. All donations will be used to purchase equipment to
start a private teaching studio. Light refreshments will be served.
Audience
members can expect a very diverse program. Some of the works will be
very serious and thought provoking, others will be fun and upbeat. Both
the marimba and the steel pan have a unique sound that has captivated
listeners around the world.
At
first glance, the marimba looks like an oversized xylophone. Evolving
from its ancestor instruments in Africa and Latin America, it is made
with rosewood bars that produce a very warm, full sound when struck.
Performers can use its natural sound to create beautiful melodies that are both haunting and inspiring.
It can be played using between two and four mallets, and has sometimes
been played with up to six mallets. Listeners can expect to be inspired
by both the music produced on the instrument as well as by the skill it
takes for the performer to play it.
The
steel pan originated in Trinidad at the beginning of the 20th century,
when people experimented with empty oil barrels and found that by
shaping them a certain way with a hammer, they could make them play
different notes. The first steel pans were crude and simple, but they
evolved over time to become the sophisticated instruments they are
today. Steel pan ensembles are growing at a rapid rate throughout the
United States, and throughout the world. Their nature allows them to be
played at incredible speeds, yet they can also produce slow, beautiful
melodies. Although most people associate them with upbeat music from
the Caribbean, performers have also been known to play classical works
on them. Their sound is loved all over the world, and is being used
more every day.
Daniel Edwards is a performer, an educator, and an
advocate for world music. Originally from Hyrum, Utah, he received
his bachelor’s degree in music from Brigham Young University-Hawaii, and is
currently studying to receive a master’s degree in percussion performance from
the University of Missouri. Along with
orchestral percussion, he performs on the steel pan, the marimba, and a variety
of world instruments. He has toured and
performed in regions of the United States, Europe, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, New
Zealand, and Australia.
Besides performing, Daniel has taught beginning
music skills to children in Kosovo, and currently teaches percussion at the
University of Missouri. He also spent
two years serving as a full time volunteer in Guatemala, where he taught life
skills to families and helped in many service projects.
His experiences with world travel and working with
people of other cultures have inspired him to base his life and career around
promoting a greater sense of unity and cultural diversity wherever he may
be. He believes that world music is just
as valuable as Western classical music, and that the two should be taught side
by side in educational systems.
He is focused on exposing audiences and students all
over the world to new genres of music, including steel band, salsa, and
Polynesian styles. He hopes that as students learn to perform new genres, they
will gain a better appreciation for other traditions and values, and at the
same time will form a stronger bond of friendship and unity among themselves as
well as among other people from other cultures.
He also wishes to include students from underprivileged backgrounds in
his music, so that anyone who is interested in obtaining a quality music
education may have the opportunity to do so.
He hopes that his work may spread across
international borders and affect anyone who is sincerely interested in learning
about world music. His greatest goal is
to use his music not only as a form of entertainment, but as a vessel to spread
education, understanding, excitement, cultural diversity, and unity.
Daniel
Edwards can be reached at dantedwards89@gmail.com, or by calling
(435)232-2685. Any questions regarding the concert are welcome, and
will be answered as quickly as possible.
