Williams Percussion Ensemble to Perform “Noise/Signal”

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Williams Percussion Ensemble, directed by Matthew Gold, will perform on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. in Chapin Hall on the Williams College campus. This free event is open to the public. No tickets required.

The Williams Percussion Ensemble presents Noise/Signal, a program of mostly recent works for percussion, mixed ensembles, and electronics celebrating the raw and uncontained end of the percussion spectrum. Through the use non-conventional instruments such as circular saw blades and two-by-fours, the complex ringing of gongs and bells, and all variety of drums, the program explores what is conventionally thought of as noise and reframes it, revealing its hidden structures and beauty. 

The program features the U.S. premiere of Dutch composer Michel van der Aa’s Between, a multilayered exploration of musical positioning through the interaction of live percussion and electronic sounds. The title of James Romig’s Frame Problem, scored for any group of wood, metal, and skin instruments, refers to the process by which the human brain perceives and organizes information. The composer writes that the multiple concurrent meters of this highly rhythmic trio provide, “human listeners with the opportunity to resolve multiple overlapping frames simultaneously. Robots in the audience will probably just be confused.”

Saturate, by multi-instrumentalist, composer/producer/sound artist, and experimental music legend Elliott Sharp is a work, “packed with timbral transformation, variable densities, and hocketed grooves,” for baritone saxophone, electric guitar, piano, and percussion. Musical revolutionary and mystic Giacinto Scelsi is represented by his short, brooding and atmospheric I Riti: Ritual March, The Funeral of Achilles. The Williams Percussion Ensemble is extremely pleased to present the world premiere of a work that was co-composed, in the manner of John Cage and Lou Harrison’s Double Music, by two of its members, Alex Creighton ’10 and Brian Simalchik ’10. If i were in, on, or around is built on the pitches of a set of automobile brake drums, and gradually invites the listener to hear them not as noise, but as a gentle and melodic scale.

Special guest Peter Wise of Doggo & Sons will lead the ensemble in a performance of electronic music that, instead of relying on cutting edge technology, utilizes circuit-bent kids’ toys, cheap microphones, and scavenged materials. "Circuit Bending" is an increasingly popular method of taking electronic children's toys that emit sound, disassembling them, and rewiring their circuits to produce sounds never intended by the manufacturer. Wise’s work explores the strange but often beautiful musical terrain of hacked up kids’ toys from the dark side, tube-loop-feedback, and circuit-bent drum machines.

Employing a nearly limitless battery of percussion instruments, the Williams Percussion Ensemble performs cutting edge new music, masterworks of the twentieth century, experimental music, and music from around the globe. Performances feature the use of all manner of percussion instruments as well as homemade objects, found sounds, and electronics. In addition to music for percussion alone, the group presents works for mixed ensembles and new and experimental music for other instruments, and has often worked directly with composers. The ensemble also collaborates with artists in other media in order to explore the connections between different types of sound, form, image, and movement.

Williamstown Board Opts to Negotiate with College on Water St. Lot

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:04AM / Tuesday, June 09, 2026

Newly elected board member Nate Budington, far left, participates in his first in-person meeting along with, from left, Matt Neely, Stephanie Boyd, Peter Beck, Shana Dixon and Town Manager Robert Menicocci.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday decided to enter into negotiations with Williams College on the sale of the vacant town-owned lot at 59 Water St.

 

But the board members made it clear that the college's proposal to acquire the lot is a starting point, not a final deal that the elected officials would accept.

 

"For the sake of continued conversation, I'm in favor of [awarding Williams the site], but if this process wasn't continued with the opportunity for further negotiation, I wouldn't vote to continue this," Peter Beck said. "I think that next step is necessary for us to get to a yes on this."

 

"I think there's wide agreement on that," Matthew Neely said just before the 5-0 vote to enter talks with the college.

 

Williams was the sole respondent to a town-issued request for proposals to develop the former town garage site, currently a dirt lot.

 

The college's stated intent is to build a new Facilities office and create up to 170 parking spaces at 59 Water Street. That use will allow the college to redevelop the current Facilities building site and parking lot as part of a reconception of the school's indoor athletic and recreation facilities.

 

Under the terms of the RFP, the college's proposal was subjected to review by an ad hoc advisory committee to the town manager, who brought the question to the Select Board. That board will have the final say on any purchase and sales agreement.