Coley wows Perry Fine Arts crowd with virtuoso performance

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Matthew Coley brought technical excellence to his seven-song performance Sunday afternoon in the Perry Fine Arts concert series.
Matthew Coley brought technical excellence to his seven-song performance Sunday afternoon in the Perry Fine Arts concert series.

Marimba maestro Matthew Coley played a seven-song program Sunday afternoon at the Perry Performing Arts and impressed the crowd of about 70 with his technical virtuosity, including wielding five mallets in his performance of “Polka” from Dmitri Shostakovich’s ballet, “The Golden Age Ballet.”

While the internationally acclaimed percussionist performs on a wide variety of instruments, including marimba, drums, hammered dulcimer, cimbalom and glass, his Perry performance was exclusively on the marimba.

The program consisted mainly of modern compositions. Along with the Shostakovich, Coley played “Habanera” from Georges Bizet’s ballet, “Carmen,” “Ragtime” by Igor Stravinsky and “Por una Cabeza” by Carlos Gardel.

Richard Rogers’ popular favorite, “My Favorite Things,” pleased the audience, whose average age was about 75, and Coley closed the performance with a touch of German rigor by playing J. S. Bach’s “Fugue in D Minor.”

Coley was on the percussion faculty in the Iowa State University Department of Music and Theater from 2009-2015, where PHS Instrumental Music Director Brandon Weeks was his student. Coley now directs the academy, touring ensemble, quartet and publications division of the Heartland Marimba Festival (HMF).

After six years of teaching at ISU, Coley now performs and does extensive administrative work developing the HMF. His direction of the HMF brings marimba and dulcimer composers into the spotlight through a variety of performance projects.

Coley tours regularly and has performed in more than 30 U.S. states, 10 countries and as a soloist with ensembles throughout the U.S. and abroad.

The next concert in the Perry Fine Arts series is Nov. 5 at 4 p.m., when the William Bell Memorial Tuba and Euphonium Day brings its annual low-note ensemble to Perry. Perry Fine Arts concerts are free and open to the public. Donations are accepted.

2 COMMENTS

  1. It’s too bad that more people don’t turn out for the Perry Fine Arts concerts. A mere 50-70 people in a community our size for concerts that are free of charge with donations accepted — the Perry Performing Arts Center should be filled to capacity. I wonder what the entertainers think when they see such a small crowd.

    • You’re quite right, John. I’ve seen different versions of the same phenomena countless times. I’m not singling our town out either. We tried to bring popular culture to a higher level 50 years ago but the American Ministry of Cultural Commercialization and Mediocrity has won out. They’ve hyped up bologna so much to the masses that folks turn up their noses at prime rib. I’ve known club owners to shell out hefty sums for quality, out-of-state musicians only for empty houses. On the other hand, they’d hire local garage bands that couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket to play cover songs, and the places would get so packed you couldn’t fit in a razor blade. Don’t even get me started on karaoke.

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