And now for something completely different … a percussion concert performed on plants.
Italian percussionist Simone Mancuso is one of 100 artists from the European Union featured at Kids Euro Festival, 150 free events around the city through Nov. 9.
Puppeteers, storytellers, magicians, acrobats, actors and musicians present creative shows designed to thrill and propel children to experiment and ponder possibilities. There is even a Rubik’s Cube show illustrating imaginative ways to solve the puzzles. The family-focused programs are held at numerous venues including embassies, the Kennedy Center, Shakespeare Theater, National Geographic, Strathmore Mansion and THEARC.
Few offerings are more unique than Mancuso’s solo percussion concert on conventional instruments and amplified live plants. A native of Italy who began performing with rock bands before embracing classical music, he received the Conservatory Diploma in Percussion in 2000 and the Solisten Diplom from Switzerland’s University School of Music in 2003. His worldwide performances as soloist and duo or ensemble member have taken him from Moscow to Brazil.
After moving to Washington, he co-founded the Mancuso-Suzda Project, a jazz/classical cross-over ensemble that gave concerts and workshops at Strathmore Mansion and produced a CD during a 2007 Artist in Residence appointment. In January, he joins the Percussion Faculty at Arizona State University.
His Kids Euro Festival gigs will incorporate more than 50 conventional and nonconventional percussion instruments. The show opens with his own composition, “One in Greenland,” performed on a solo vibraphone and dedicated to a friend who died.
“I use soft, medium and hard mallets to construct the voices,” he says. “The low, soft voice represents the spiritual part of life. The medium mallets represent the routine of life or things done every day, and the melody played on the highest mallets represents the enjoyment of life.”
He then proceeds to John Cage’s “Child of Tree,” “Branches I” and “Branches II” for structured improvisation on amplified cacti, bamboo, dried leaves and other uncommon instruments. Children are invited to the stage to observe their construction.
“John Cage’s ‘Child of Tree’ incorporates 10 instruments, among them the marimba, cactus and Mexican beans that sound like a rattlesnake,” he says. “The xylophone is made with bamboo a meter long, and a gourd is cut in two parts and dried. One part holds water, while the smaller one fits on top of the water and make a sound by tapping it.
“This is a great visual experience for both children and parents and also helps them to listen carefully. A teacher must be a performer because his main goal is to teach students to be creative in everything. Then, whether they become painters or lawyers, they will do beautiful things.”
If you go
The Kids Euro Festival presents Simone Mancuso performing “Phytomusica,” a percussion concert with plants, Saturdays through Nov. 9.
Venues: National Geographic,11 a.m. Saturday; THEARC, Nov. 2; La Maison Française, 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Nov. 6; Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, 6 p.m. Nov. 9
Tickets: Free
Information: 202-944-6558; kidseurofestival.org.
