The Virginia Arts Festival will present a Drum Festival May 15-17, 2009, in Virginia Beach as part of its 13th annual presentation of world-class performances. The Drum Festival will offer public performances, demonstrations, and events in Virginia Beach at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Sandler Center Plaza, and on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront at the 17th Street Stage.

The Festival will begin with Evelyn Glennie, one of the most eclectic, inventive, and influential musicians on the scene today, and the first person in musical history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist. In her May 15 performance at Virginia Beach’s Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Ms. Glennie will reveal a world of sound in percussion instruments of all timbres, tones, and sizes, with unrivalled showmanship and an adventurous soul. The Scotsman newspaper called her show “an extraordinary feat of virtuosity and charisma…. Center-stage, bathed in multi-colored light and a mystic glycerine fog and against the aural background shimmer of exotic sounds, the glistening array of percussion instruments conjured up the expectant excitement of a rock concert.”

On May 16th, the 17th Street stage at the oceanfront Drum Festival events will begin at noon with a beach-front drum circle lead by nationally known world music drummer Matt Savage.  Bring your own drum and join percussion professionals and drumming students for a unique experience – there is no rehearsal, there is no teacher, there is no right or wrong.

Other afternoon events include performances by the Old Dominion University Percussion Ensemble, Virginia Beach Public School Percussion Ensembles, Mystic Fire, and Beleza, an all female percussion group.  The evening’s events will wrap up with a big band performance on the stage beginning at 8:00 PM. Come hear the songs of the swing era that highlight the sounds of the drum set in this rhythmic flashback to the 1930’s and 40’s.

Throughout the weekend, percussion ensembles can also be heard at the Sandler Center Plaza one hour prior to this year’s Virginia Arts Festival events including the Friday evening concert by Evelyn Glennie and the performances of Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

For a complete schedule of Virginia Arts Festival performances, including the inaugural Drum Festival events, visit vafest.org.

 
About the Virginia Arts Festival

The Virginia Arts Festival was established in 1997 with the goal of bringing great performances to the communities of Hampton Roads, Virginia, including Norfolk, Williamsburg, Virginia Beach, and other municipalities throughout the area. Each spring, the Festival presents internationally acclaimed artists from around the globe in a dazzling lineup of music, theatre and dance. Now in its thirteenth season, the Festival has established itself as one of the premier cultural events in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. The dates for the 2009 Festival are April 14-May 31.

Performance and Ticket Information

All events at the Sandler Center Plaza and 17th Street Stage are free and open to the public.

Evelyn Glennie, percussion
Fri. May 15, 8:00 PM
Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach
$57 Gold Circle, no discounts, $39, $27
Call 1-888-3-COXTIX or visit www.vafest.org for tickets.