No doubt the performance of Persephassa around the lake will be one of the summer's most spectacular events. This piece, for six percussionists, has never before been performed in the US outdoors, as originally intended, and certainly never around a lake, with the audience in rowboats! On a summer's evening, with the reflective beauty of the lake, and the New York skyline rising up in the background, it will certainly be a memorable occasion. Two performances will be given, at 4:15pm and 5:45pm.

The six percussionists will be placed in a roughly hexagonal arrangement around the west side of the lake - two in lakeside gazebos, one on a rock outcropping and three on floating platforms built especially for the event. The percussionists include Steven Schick, formerly of the Bang on a Can All-Stars, who is a world-renowned champion of contemporary music and Xenakis specialist, and Doug Perkins, formerly of So Percussion. In addition to listening from rowboats, customarily rented to tourists and others for lake outings, audience members will gather on paths and bridges surrounding the lake.

Xenakis composed Persephassa for the first Shiraz Festival in 1969, which was organized by the Empress of Iran and held within the ancient desert ruins of Persepolis. The title refers to the goddess Persephone, "the personification of telluric forces and of transmutations of life." The work makes considerable use of spatial effects, as when accents or imitative rhythms are passed around the ensemble, or layers of sound are rotated in different directions, each at its own tempo, in a kind of space-time collision. Throughout Persephassa, the percussionists use a wide range of instruments and sound effects, including sirens, maracas, and pebbles, along with an arsenal of drums, wood blocks, whistles, cymbals, and gongs.

The floating stages atop which three percussionists will play are being constructed by boat building group Floating The Apple, based in New York City. Each plywood platform will be mounted astride two boats and, in addition to the percussionist, will have an oarsperson onboard to keep the stage steady.

Persephassa lasts nearly thirty minutes and culminates in a spectacular ending that has been described as having "a ferocious near-impossible complexity." After this stunning conclusion, members of the audience will row their boats back to the dock.

Along with Steven Schick and Doug Perkins, participating percussionists are Greg Beyer, Robert Esler, Brett Reed and Nathan Davis.

Performance details
3:45pm: First audience boards boats
4:15-4:45pm: First performance
4:50-5:45pm: First audience returns boats; second audience boards
5:45-6:15pm: Second performance

Place: The Lake in Central Park. The rowboat concession is next to the Boat House Café. For best views, audience members may also use the Western shore of the lake, the path between Bow Bridge and the Ramble, and the newly renovated Oak Bridge, at the north end of the lake.

The event is free and open to the public. There are no advance tickets for rowboats; please come early to ensure a seat.