Theremin virtuoso performs tonight

by Lauren Coyle

Pamelia Kurstin, a renowned theremin player, will perform tonight at 8 p.m. in the Ohio University School of Music Recital Hall. The free event offers an opportunity to witness the playing of the only instrument ever created that does not require physical contact. 

Leon Theremin, a Russian physicist and cellist, invented the theremin in 1919. The instrument is a wooden box, containing two high-frequency oscillator rods and two protruding antennas. One rod and antenna extension is used to control pitch, and the other is used to control amplitude.

“It basically involves manipulating magnetic field,” said Jonathon Cox, an OU graduate student who built his own theremin with his brother. “For example, the closer your hand gets to the straight antenna on the right side of the box, the higher the pitch is going to get.”

Its droning, ethereal sound can be found in surf music and science fiction horror movies. 

“The theremin was used in the Beach Boys’ song ‘Good Vibrations,’” said Barb Palmer of the School of Music.

The theremin played a prevalent role in horror movies of 1940s and ’50s, when not many electronic instruments existed. It appeared recently in the film ••Mars Attacks!•• It has also been used in classical music. Clara Rockmore played the theremin in her rendition of ••The Swan,•• by composer Camille Saint-Saens.

“The theremin is the oldest electronic instrument that is still played and manufactured today,” said Mark Phillips, professor in the School of Music and co-host of the event.

Kurstin will begin with an instructive “master class” and then launch into a formal performance. Andre Gribou, music director from the School of Dance, and Roger Braun, OU percussion professor, will accompany Kurstin’s performance. William Christy, assistant professor of music at OU-Zanesville, wrote several of the selections they will perform.

The 25-year-old Kurstin discovered her theremin-playing propensities after delving into other instruments. She began studying piano when she was 2 years old. She subsequently studied violin, viola, cello and bass. She started touring with local groups as a teenager, and released her first album, ••Gymnopedie••, in 2000 with Verve artist Greg Kurstin. Since then, her music has been played on college radio stations across America.