Maraca Virtuoso Manuel Rangel

In February/March of 2018 I organized a clinic and performance with Manuel Rangel. During his trip to Arizona, Manuel first a clinic at Scottsdale Community College for some of my students and AZPAS members. The next evening he was our special guest performer with Crossing 32^nd Street ensemble giving a First Friday performance at the Phoenix Art Museum. Some of the works performed were:

• Music for Botany, by Jeremy Muller (feat. Manuel Rangel)
• Temazcal, by Javier Alvarez (performed by Manuel Rangel)
• Spectral Arctic Ice Triangulations, by Matthew Burtner (performed by Jeremy Muller & Doug Nottingham)
• Music for Pieces of Wood, by Steve Reich (performed by Crossing 32^nd Street)
• Drumming part 1, by Steve Reich (performed by Crossing 32^nd Street)
• Wail from The Mathematics of Resonant Bodies, by John Luther Adams (performed by Doug Nottingham)

This was especially exciting for me since I wrote my dissertation on the topic of contemporary Venezuelan maraca performance. Manuel was one of the maraqueros I studied during my research so in some ways, this event was years in the making. Special thanks for the help from the Arizona Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society, Scottsdale Community College, and the Phoenix Art Museum for making this possible.

Photos by Masato Kubota: