Wayne State College spotlights brass and percussion in free spring concert

Free and livestreamed, Wayne State College’s spring brass and percussion concert gives drummers a clear reason to tune in Monday night. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. in Ramsey Theatre at the Peterson Fine Arts Building, where the percussion ensemble will share the bill with brass groups in a multi-ensemble showcase built for close listening.

For percussion players, the most interesting part is the ensemble writing itself. Wayne State’s Percussion Ensemble is set to perform Three works: Two for Six by Thomas L. Davis, Presto by James Rago, and Whole-Tone Fantasy by Thomas O’Connor. The concert bills the percussion side around sextet repertoire, which means the writing should lean into chamber-style interplay, tight entrances, and the kind of texture shifts that make small-ensemble percussion literature feel especially exposed and satisfying to watch.

The brass program widens the picture. Brass Knuckles Quintet will play Claude Debussy’s Cake Walk, Joseph Kosma’s Autumn Leaves, Andrea Gabrielli’s Canzona, and John Wilbye’s Two Madrigals. The Trumpet Ensemble will feature arrangements by G.E. Holmes, including Dignity Fanfare, March of the Men of Harlech, and Sleepers Wake. The Low Brass Choir will present pieces composed or arranged by ensemble members, with works titled The Phantom of the Tuba, Funeral for an Elevator, Bink’s Brew, Embrace, A Little Prayer, Pyrefly Forest/Cat’s Cradle, and Layla Ending. Named student creators include Ethan Hajek, Addison Kriz, Ian Finley, Jose Ramirez, Erick Owen, and Chase Van Briesen.

The evening also brings together a familiar Wayne State faculty lineup. Dr. Melissa Derechailo teaches horn, music history, music theatre history and music industry. Michael Genslinger teaches music education courses and applied trumpet and performs as principal cornet in the Nebraska Brass Band. Dr. Josh Calkin directs bands, and Brad Weber serves as adjunct music faculty in percussion. Eric Snyder, a Wayne State alumnus and retired instrumental music director, will serve as guest conductor and performer.

That alumni link gives the concert a little extra weight, but Wayne State’s bigger message is scale. The college says it offers more than 100 annual performances free of charge to faculty, staff, students and surrounding communities, and Ramsey Theatre seats about 560. The brass and percussion concert has also become a recurring spring fixture, with similar ensemble performances staged on April 28, 2025, and Dec. 1, 2025. For anyone who follows college percussion, Monday’s program is a compact snapshot of how a campus ensemble can move from student arranging to concert-hall polish in one night.