Terry Longshore’s gong orchestra will dance with Betty LaDuke’s art in Nov. 8 show at ScienceWorks

By Jim Flint

When rhythm meets art, magic can happen.

Terry Longshore’s “Full Circle: Turtle Wisdom” will bring artist Betty LaDuke’s vibrant “Turtle Wisdom” series to life through the resonant sounds of a gong orchestra on Nov. 8 at ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum.

The show will run from 6 to 8 p.m., with two performances — starting at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. — at the museum at 1500 E. Main St., Ashland.

Performers will include Longshore, the SOU Percussion Ensemble and students of Longshore’s SOU Honors College course, Making Music.

Longshore is a percussionist whose genre-crossing work exhibits the artistry of the concert stage, the spontaneity of jazz and the energy of a rock club.

An educator as well as a performer, he is a professor of music, artist in residence, and director of percussion studies at Southern Oregon University, having joined the SOU staff in 2000.

LaDuke, who hails from New York, studied art from the age of 16. The Ashland artist has traveled extensively. Time spent in the early 1950s with the indigenous Otomi in Mexico, whose concern with the preservation of their heritage profoundly influenced her work. She taught at SOU for more than 30 years.

Her pieces from the “Turtle Wisdom” series will be on display at the ScienceWorks concerts.

Chicken or egg?

The “chicken and egg” question comes to mind: Which came first, the turtles or the music?

“We have inspired each other,” Longshore said.

In 2023 he composed and performed an hourlong piece for large solo gong called “This Moment in Time.”

“Betty came to the performance and was inspired by the music and the large, circular shape of the gong, much like a turtle’s shell,” he said.

“She had already used turtles in some of her works, but she then began her series, which now numbers 36 turtles.”

As she was sharing them with Longshore, she mentioned that perhaps his students could somehow respond to them.

“I thought about it for a while,” he said, “and came up with the idea to compose a new piece for gong orchestra, using her turtles as visual prompts for the performers, along with a text- and time-based musical score.”

He approached translating her art into the musical composition with the idea of giving each performer a print of one of LaDuke’s turtles. Musicians will perform the musical score, but also will be permitted to respond to cues from the art, adding their own interpretations.

Longshore came up with an idea on how to keep the piece under control.

“The performance will be paced by stopwatches that each performer will follow to guide them through the performance,” he said.

A blending of genres

Longshore’s experience in blending genres is reflected in the new work.

“Some sections will involve improvisation,” he said. “And I’m always blending rhythmic concepts from all kinds of music.”

LaDuke’s images are deeply tied to cultural and environmental themes. Incorporating those larger ideas into the music was important to Longshore.

“I’m hoping the music will help her themes come alive,” he said. “It’s a unique collaboration for everyone involved.”

At the time of this interview in September, Longshore was still in the process of composing the music, so some of the ideas were just taking shape. It may be a work in progress up until concert time.

Percussionist’s winding road

Longshore started on piano at age 5 and studied for 10 years. He took up flute in fifth grade and saxophone in the seventh grade.

So how did he end up in percussion?

“My sister, 17 years my senior, tells me that when I was 2, I used to play her boyfriend’s drums, stored in our parents’ garage. She told my mom, ‘He’s gong to be a drummer!’”

He didn’t start drumming seriously until high school, and then it became a passion.

Still, there was a bit of a detour along the way to his becoming a professional.

“My first degree was in business and I had a career as a business banking officer at a Wells Fargo Bank. But I left it all to go back to school and study music.”

He never looked back.

He’s been juggling his time as the ScienceWorks concert approaches.

His duo Caballito Negro, with New York City-based flutist Tessa Brinckman, is on a late-October tour of Baltimore, New York City and Princeton.

And earlier in October, another longtime duo partner, Brett Reed, a percussionist from Phoenix, Arizona, was in town to work on some new music with Longshore for a new album they’ll release soon.

Tickets to the concert are $10 and are available online at scienceworksmuseum.org. Admission is free for SOU faculty and staff, students with a photo ID and ScienceWorks members.

Freelance writer Jim Flint is a retired newspaper publisher and editor. Email him at jimflint.ashland@yahoo.com.