Percussionist returns to Palmer with marimba concert

PALMER — Meggie Aube has figured out what she wants to do with her life. She wants to hit things. Rhythmically.

Of course, she would probably disagree with that description of what she does. There is, after all, a whole lot more to percussion than just hitting things.

“Anybody can pick up a stick and hit something, but once you go past that into the higher levels it’s very challenging,” said Aube, 27.

In fact, the challenge of percussion is a lot of what appeals to Aube.

“I’m a really rhythmical person, too,” she said. And percussion is nothing if not rhythmical. “More than any other instrument, really.”

Aube will be playing live tonight at Vagabond Blues starting at 7 p.m., in an event put on by the Palmer Arts Council. The music will consist of older pieces and newer ones, played mostly on the vibraphone and marimba — both of which look like a xylophone, only bigger.

Aube said it’s her first concert of the summer and the first since she moved back to Alaska.

“I used to be really involved in the Valley community with teaching and playing,” she said, but lately has only played one or two shows during her month-long breaks from school. She said she intends to get involved again.

Aube has lived in the Valley her whole life. She’s been playing music since she was 7. Her first instrument was the piano and she liked it enough. But then, in fifth grade, she started playing with her school’s band.

“I had to choose an instrument and I chose percussion,” Aube said.

And that, as they say, was that. She kept playing percussion through high school and graduated from Palmer High. She went to college at the University of Alaska Anchorage, studying for four years with John Damberg, who will join her at Vagabond Blues.

Bachelor’s degree in hand, Aube then headed to graduate school at the University of Iowa. Two years later she had a master’s and three years after that, a doctorate.

“Coming from a small school going to a really large school was very good for me,” she said of her time in Iowa. She enjoyed her time in the Lower 48. “It was also just nice to travel because you’re right in the middle of everything.”

Now that she’s done with school, Aube said her long-term goal is to teach somewhere. But there aren’t a whole lot of college-level teaching positions out there. And being young and inexperienced, she’s not a major contender for what jobs there are.

So she’s going to spend some time in her hometown, putting together ensembles to play with. She’s already got one at Palmer High. She’s been talking to the Palmer Senior Center about maybe starting one there. She also plans to teach music lessons.

Aube said she likes all kinds of music, from jazz to Latin to classical. What she likes best, though, are modern pieces, mainly because people have only just recently started writing pieces exclusively for percussion instruments.

“I like things that are written for percussionists. It feels more legitimate, almost in a way, so you’re not stealing from other instruments,” she said. “A lot of times I’ll actually play music by Bach and I don’t think Bach really even knew what a marimba was.”

Some of those more modern pieces will be sprinkled in amongst the offerings on hand tonight at Vagabond Blues. Aube said she thinks the music should appeal to people of all ages. Even, dare she say, easily bored children.

“It’s really interesting and visual,” she said of the multiple swinging mallets she uses to play her instrument.

As for her goal with the concert, Aube said it’s simple.

“I just kind of wanted people to know that I’m back in Alaska.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.