Assaf Shatil’s composition MIDRASH: Three etudes for remote percussion ensemble (2020) was premiered online by UCSC percussion ensemble, directed by William Winant, during the Santa Cruz Festival on April 16th.

MIDRASH deals with a musical structure where timbral choices are open for the performers. Each etude is made of the structuring of one particular percussive gesture—an “attack” in the first etude, a “swell” in the second etude and a “fast knock” in the third etude. Each etude is both a “study” of the performative and timbral choices of each individual and also the entire assemblage of all parts put together.