UNC Asheville Lecturer in Music Matthew Richmond, composer and percussionist, will present a free public lecture, “Rhythm in Science and Spirituality,” in the next installment of the university’s spring Music Faculty Lecture Series.
This event is free and open to everyone at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, Feb. 28th at UNC Asheville’s Karpen Hall in the Laurel Forum.
“From heartbeats to seasons to cycles of life and death, rhythm has been central to the human experience since the very beginning,” says Richmond. “Over the ages, marking the passage of time more and more accurately has also been essential to humanity’s technological development, and yet the nature of time itself remains elusive to us. This talk will explore how musical concepts of rhythm and pulse are embedded in various spiritual traditions and scientific disciplines, and how contemplation of time can enrich our understanding of both the physical world and our own place in it.”
As a percussionist, Richmond performs with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra and the Like Mind Trio (original jazz). He has also performed and/or recorded with stephaniesĭd, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, Steve Reich, Gordon Stout, the Percussive Arts Society 50th Anniversary Marimba Orchestra, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, Asheville Choral Society, Asheville Lyric Opera, Lake Junaluska Singers, Charleston Symphony, Catskill Symphony, Transylvania Choral Society, Greater Spartanburg Philharmonic, The Secret B-Sides, Kat Williams, Holiday Childress, and many more.
Richmond has composed and directed music for performances by the Asheville Ballet, Black Swan Theatre, TheatreUNCA and other area theatrical groups. At UNC Asheville, he teaches percussion, composition, jazz and music theory, and directs the university’s student percussion ensembles.
The final event of the spring semester’s Music Faculty Lecture Series and the series keynote will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25, and feature William Cheng, Dartmouth University assistant professor and author of Just Vibrations: The Purpose of Sounding Good. This event also is free and open to everyone and takes place in Karpen Hall in the Laurel Forum.
For more information, visit music.unca.edu/upcoming-events.