The upbeat and swinging choice of repertoire shows a harmonious combination of percussion
and violin.
Beverley Johnston, percussion and Marc Djokic, violin
- Artsfile Q&A Interview
- VIDEOS:
David Jones – Legal Highs, I. Mr. Coffee
David Jones – Legal Highs, III. Sweet Thing
Richard Mascall – Quantum Holograms
The BEV & MARC DUO combines percussion (mainly the marimba, with the addition of
vibraphone and musical saw!) and strings (violin) to present a new performance dynamic to the
audience. The visual impact of the marimba and other on-stage gear peaks the audience
interest before the concert begins; their performance has a strong visual and aural presence
which is seen from two very unique approaches to playing two very different instruments.
BEV & MARC focus on music from Canada, North and South America as well as Europe.
One of their highlight pieces was jointly commissioned by the Ontario Arts Council and Canada
Council and features the use of digital FX pedals, adding a new media element to their
performance.
The duo usually plays a style of melodic, contemporary, tonal music; their smoothly paced,
eclectic programming shows that not all of contemporary music is abstract and atonal. BEV &
MARC perform popular marimba and violin repertoire but also research and arrange other
pieces to adapt to uncommon instrumentation including the musical saw!
Repertoire includes: Legal Highs by David Jones, Tarantella by Anders Koppel, Histoire du
Tango by Astor Piazzola, Quantum Holograms by Canadian composer Richard Mascall, About Escher by Spanish composer Mario Carro, and solo works for both violin and percussion by Christos Hatzis.
In spring/summer 2016 this high power duo performed at Brock University and Kincardine
Summer Music Festival, and released three music videos filmed in Montreal. Coming up this summer the duo has been invited to perform at the International Chamberfest 2017 in Ottawa.
