To percussionist Andrew Spencer, this box of cereal is a musical instrument, seriously.  And, Spencer will prove it.  He will perform music featuring interactive computer programming and compelling percussion sounds for a March performance at The Block in Muskegon.

The former principal timpanist with the West Michigan Symphony, Spencer will perform a series of pieces featuring the computer and percussion, including a new work for five cardboard boxes and a Homeric ode recited while playing on four terra cotta pots.

Unique? You bet. Fun? That, too.

The program starts at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 15. Doors and bar open at 6:30 p.m. Mac ‘n’ cheese will be served.

Spencer is an active recitalist and clinician, and has performed as a soloist in the United States, Poland, Japan, Canada, and Costa Rica. He believes that “the act of performing percussion music without a ‘percussion’ instrument to be both liberating and intimidating.”

In 1999, he released “Slender Beams,” a recording that features works by composer Dave Hollinden. Spencer has also premiered works by David Gillingham, Mark Polishook, Samuel Adler, Robert May and Henry Gwiazda among others.
Equally experienced in orchestral performance, Spencer is timpanist with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and principal percussionist for the Midland Orchestra. Additional positions have included timpanist/principal percussionist with the Yakima Symphony Orchestra, Cascade Festival Orchestra, Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra and Fargo-Moorhead Civic Opera Company. He has also performed with the Oregon Symphony, Spokane Symphony and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.

Tickets for the event are $20 and up and available at the West Michigan Symphony ticket office: 231.726.3231 ext. 223; online at www.westmichigansymphony.org; or in person at 360 W. Western Ave. in Muskegon.

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