Advancing the polyphonic playing style on keyboard percussion instruments

The project deals with the development of new experimental four-mallet playing techniques, useful for executing advanced keyboard literature requiring extensive hand independence.

The main goal of the project is twofold: Firstly, to make a performance of the entire second keyboard partita in C minor (BWV 826) by J.S. Bach technically feasible for solo marimba, and secondly, to develop extensive step-by-step teaching material that will allow students and professionals alike to acquire and develop these skills with ease.

The teaching material will be developed in tandem with the percussion students at RDAM, and the project itself will finish in February 2024 with a public presentation of the project including a brief demonstration of the developed techniques, a discussion of musical parameters, as well as a world-premiere full performance of J.S. Bach's second keyboard partita.