Percussion Pop-Up in Warmath Commons

Members of the UNCG Graduate Percussion Ensemble will perform the first part of Steve Reich’s Drumming as part of the Pattern Recognition exhibition held at UNCG’s Weatherspoon Art Museum. This performance will follow a gallery talk by Emily Stamey, Head of Exhibitions, that occurs at Noon on Friday, November 7, 2025.

About the piece:

Part I of Drumming by Steve Reich begins with two percussionists gradually building a 12-beat rhythmic pattern on tuned bongo drums through a process of “substituting beats for rests.” Each player adds one note at a time until the full pattern emerges. Once established, one drummer begins to shift—or “phase”—slightly ahead of the other, producing a new composite rhythm created by the interlocking patterns. As this new rhythm stabilizes, two additional performers join, playing the resulting melodic fragments, or “resultant patterns,” that arise from the interaction. The entire piece is comprised of only one rhythmic pattern that is repeated, phased, and permutated throughout the composition.