Utah State University's campus is set to become an interactive musical landscape with the upcoming performance of "Drum Grid" by the renowned Diné artist Raven Chacon. Scheduled for 3-4 p.m. on April 12, the event will feature percussionists stationed at various locations across the USU Logan campus, engaging in a call-and-response that is expected to generate a unique sonic experience with the campus's natural acoustics enhancing the performance. The event, free to the public, aims to bring together participants of diverse ages and skill levels, making it a unifying community event.
The structure of "Drum Grid" aims to literally transform the physical environment into an instrument where sound waves bounce off the buildings and open spaces to create, often unpredictably, new resonances and rhythmical patterns, a method to seemingly allow the campus itself to partake in the composition. This unique performance is part of the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art's Music + Music Series, which seeks to create synergies between visual art and music, as reported by USU Today.
Raven Chacon, a Pulitzer Prize winner in Music for his piece "Voiceless Mass" and a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, is an artist whose work consistently blurs the distinctions between visual and performance art while referencing indigenous identity and narratives. According to USU Today, his "Drum Grid" at USU is connected to the museum exhibition “Repainting the I: The Intermountain Intertribal Indian School,” where artwork by students reflects personal identity and community.
Chacon's commitment to education and mentorship is also evident in his role as the senior composer mentor for the Native American Composer Apprentice Project. His works have been displayed and performed across prestigious venues such as LACMA, The Whitney Biennial, Borealis Festival, and The Kennedy Center, to name a few. "Drum Grid" represents yet another layer of Chacon's dedication to creating communal and exploratory soundscapes, aiming to ignite reflection about the interplay of space, sound, and human connectivity.
