The Pan-American ensemble, led by Dr. M. Brent Williams, will tour Latin America beginning with Argentinian tangos in three different formats; standard in 4/4 time, followed by a tango waltz in ¾ and concluding with an up-tempo milonga in 2/4. They’ll move to Cuba with their two pieces of son cubano music taken from the original Buena Vista Social Club album. Son, meaning sound is an Afro-Cuban musical form combining elements of Cuban traditional Trova music with deep currents of African rhythms brought over by the large slave population. The group will finish their portion with a lively set of Mexican Mariachi music. Ballet Folklorico de Durango will join them for part of this set. After a quick stage change, the percussion ensembles, under the direction of Dr. John O’Neal, will present a program composed entirely of works by currently living composers. The evening will include Evan Chapman’s Second Thoughts, which utilizes tubular pitched instruments commonly found in elementary music classes, bass drums and slats of wood. The ensemble will also perform Dave Hall’s The Persistence of Memory, which is based on Salvador Dali’s painting of the same name. This painting features Dali's famous "melting clocks,” and is recognized as one of the definitive works of the Surrealist Movement in art. Additional compositions by Brian Nozny, Matt Savage and Nathan Daughtrey will also be included. The performance will feature drums, marimbas, elementary school percussion instruments, hissing and shouting - this is definitely a concert you will not want to miss!