Discover Delmarva Arts: Salisbury University Percussion Ensemble

SALISBURY, Md. — At Salisbury University, the percussion ensemble is more than just a group of students — it’s a community of musicians built on collaboration, synchronicity, and creativity. Under the direction of Eric Shuster, the ensemble performs pieces ranging from classical percussion works to modern, experimental compositions.

Shuster says communication and staying in sync are key to bringing each piece together. “In a chamber music setting, you’re not really using a conductor, and it’s all about how people communicate through their various types of queuing,” Shuster said.

“It is tricky, and I’ll come up with little exercises to get us thinking together. You know, converting rhythmic ideas into language ideas and thinking of how we would speak certain things.”

At the ensemble’s concert last week, they performed a brand-new piece written specifically for the group.

“We’re performing a brand-new piece that’s never been heard, by a composer named Lila Wildy Quillin. Lila is from the Eastern Shore. She took the inspiration from the horseshoe crab in creating this piece. The idea of an animal that has survived a number of mass extinction events,” Shuster said.

The ensemble also performed an especially unique piece that takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to perform. Shuster says the song is unlike any other experience of music. “The other piece that we’re doing is In C, which is a seminal work of what we call minimalism today, a piece written in 1964 by the composer Terry Riley, who turns 90 this year.”

“It’s an experience unlike any other in performing. Music is a team sport; we’re always having to work together, so that’s an essential element of it, but this is working together in a way they’ve never done before,” Shuster said.

Shuster and his students say that playing a piece like In C means having to think a little differently and really locking in together.

“It’s not like trying to sound better or trying to sound worse; the perspective is trying to sync along with this piece specifically. We have, it’s like a wave, it’s like a continuous cloud,” percussionist Stephen Schockley said.

“There’s a certain idea, a mentality, that comes with percussion that I think is really unique, and I love playing off of that energy,” Shuster said