Grammy-award winning musical group Mannheim Steamroller will perform at the Indiana University Auditorium Tuesday evening as part of its annual Christmas tour. They were last in Bloomington in 2010.
Mannheim Steamroller released its first Christmas album in 1984 and has done annual Christmas tours ever since.
Drummer Tom Sharpe has been listening to Mannheim Steamroller’s music his entire life while he learned the drums and piano; he also studied classical and orchestral music in school. He joined the group as a drummer 18 years ago. He describes its style as a mix of classical sophistication and raw rock energy, with jazz and Baroque influences.
“It can be high energy, you know, really driving,” he said. “And it can also be reflective and very emotional. There's some whimsy to it, there's a definite theatrical flair to it.”
As the drummer, Sharpe’s role is to keep the music driving forward and on beat. When performing, his focus is to engage with the audience as much as possible. That’s why they all practice the music all year and memorize it.
“We're not reading music on stage,” he said. “I go to rehearsal No. 1, I'm already not reading music at that point and making sure that all of our focus is outward towards the audience.”
The performance starts at 7:30 p.m. and will run about two hours; it will include Christmas classics as well as new songs.
“We're meant to play inspired so that we can leave you feeling inspired,” Sharpe said. “I think that we don't want anyone to go out and just think they heard a bunch of Christmas songs. We really want them to feel like they were a part of something really special.”
Sharpe said even though he’s on the road a lot, it’s worth sharing music with people and continuing a 40-year tradition.
“Life on the road is very different,” he said. “We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to do this and to be on the side of Christmas where we're the ones that are responsible for sharing this joy, and that that's something that we all are very, very, aware of and that we really do approach with great care…it's more than just playing Christmas songs, because you can go to your local anywhere and hear a Christmas concert.”
