News
World Music in the Theatre
Live Performances with Constellation Theatre Company
The summer has been off to a whirlwind start. My live performances for four weeks with Constellation Theatre ended on June 6th. Additional shows were added the last two weeks to accommodate the high demand.
The Ramayana by Peter Oswald is India's epic tale of passion and adventure. My score composed specifically for this production was appropriately adventuresome! It included electric tabla, santoor, bowed Tibetan bowls, aquasonic and cymbals, Indian kanjira, doumbek and riqq. Due to the huge success and continued interest the production will be back July 2011!
The following are some press quoted from this exciting show. As always special thanks to collaborator Allison Stockman and the entire creative team and gifted actors that made this production such a success!
"The Helen Hayes Award winning master percussionist Tom Teasley sets the tone during open seating. Enough cannot be said about Teasley's impact as part of the show with his vast array of instruments and omnipresent involvement enhancing the mood, creating the effects of rain, and even the ocean waves as part of his absolute genius on percussions."
-Review from DC Theatre Scene
"Composer Tom Teasley, a Constellation regular -- sits on the side of the stage, intently performing his invaluable now-spooky, now pulse-quickening percussion-heavy score."
-Celia Wren-Washington Post
"With so many characters travelling through many worlds, it's vital to have a backbone and here Stockman has picked the best - live music composed and performed by percussionist Tom Teasley. From playing the doumbek to scat singing, he pulls the audience along as a kind of musical narrator, and it's easily the second most riveting performance of the evening, grounding time and place far more effectively than any set design."
-We Love Arts, Jen Larson
"Percussion opens, closes, and leads the way in Peter Oswald's agile poetic adaptation of the Hindu sacred epic The Ramayana, Tom Teasley composed the percussion soundscape and delivers a standout performance as the only musical performer. I think that what made Teasley's concert of original sounds unusual was that he added scat singing to the mix of drums and odd keyboard instrument called the melodica."
-The Dressing Karren LaLondeAlenier
"Percussionist-composer Tom Teasley conjures a veritable universe of near-supernatural noises, all on his own".
-Trey Graham, Washington City Paper
"One of the most distinguished parts of the production was the live music created by a one-man band: Tom Teasley, a genius. His music with its peculiar oral sounds, like someone reciting a Kathak dance bol, regaled us as we entered the tiny auditorium. It is an extraordinary meld of the Western and the Indian. On a variety of drums, strings using unconventional instruments, like his tongue and palette of mouth, he creates some marvelous music. Teasley's background score is an important and integral part of the Constellation Theatre Ramayana."
-Kavita Nagpa The Asian Age
With Playwright Dan LeFranc at the
Kennedy Center for Performing Arts
Just finished a three-day workshop with playwright, Dan LeFranc. Dan LeFranc was awarded the 2010 New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award for his play Sixty Miles to Silver Lake. I was selected along with a team of actors to collaborate and provide input and sound design as Dan continues to prepare his new work. I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with such a creative team of artists.
Tom in Ireland August 8th - 16th
I will be embarking on an exciting new adventure to Ireland in the upcoming days. The 13th Annual Northern Ireland Group Psychology Conference has invited me to be a part of their staged reading workshops at this conference. I will compose the music and create sound design as the theatre artists act out the readings to "Off the Map". As part of this trip I am looking forward to connecting with other artists in Ireland and England.
Educational Programs Across the State
Clinic for the US Air Force Band
A day well spent with percussionists at the USAF. We spent time fine tuning techniques and delving into new skills in world percussion. We used a variety of texts the percussionists were familiar with to learn techniques on Djembe, doumbek, riqq, shakers and other world percussion instruments. The feedback was very positive.
"I just wanted to say thank you again for spending some time with us at the USAF Band yesterday. I have been getting tons of positive feedback from all the guys at work, they really dug it!!"
-Randy Gorman, USAF Band
Young Audiences of Virginia Performance in Roanoke
My educational Young Audiences of Virginia performance, Drumming North, South, East and West was featured in July at the Roanoke County libraries for all ages. In this program I explored the world's percussive routes and roots as I traveled from Asian temples, through Carnatic traditions in India, explored Afghan drumming to African drum calls and all the way to the Americas.
Hands-on Drumming at Legacy International
My travels took me to the beautiful woodlands of Bedford, Virginia for another visit to Legacy International. At the Global Youth Village I performed and involved the Iraqi and American teens in a round of drumming, call and answer. Their program offers International teens to meet with US youth and engage in workshops for peace building, cross-cultural awareness, dialogue, leadership skill building, cultural arts and global music. What a wonderful community, which I look forward to visiting again.
Visit here for more information and quotes about my educational work.
Find out what Modern Drummer Magazine already knows. I am teaching a limited number of students in my newly renovated studio as I wrap up my touring for this spring. Instruction is available on World Percussion, Drum Set, and combining electronic and acoustic percussion. Let me help you take your drumming to the next level! Contact me for more details.
My Gift: Massage your Chakras
To celebrate a great run of the Indian epic, "The Ramayana" and my sound healing work later this month in Ireland I'm offering my composition, Tali For One from my CD "Global Groovilization". This is a fun composition where I perform all instruments including drums, electric tabla, electric santoor, vibraphone and doumbek. It is my homage the amazing musical culture of India and the Middle East. Please enjoy and feel free to forward to others you think this music will resonate with.
Click here to download this free single!
Thank you to Sponsors of Tom's latest educational tours:
Tom proudly performs with instruments from these makers of high quality drums, mallets and percussion including
Video Clips
Enjoy your choice of video recorded Kennedy Center concerts
The Kennedy Center recorded several performances during Tom Teasley's term as Artist-In-Residence there. Listen to the recordings by visiting Tom Teasley's artist page at the Kennedy Center web site, and scroll down to play your choice of performances.