I feel so honored to have been awarded a Project Grant from New Music USA for this year! Emma O’Halloran and I submitted a proposal to record her brand new piece for marimba and electronics with the incredible gentlemen at Four/Ten Media, and despite the extremely competitive application and selection process, our project was chosen. We’ll be traveling to Philadelphia this coming Spring and making a great video to document Emma’s beautiful piece!

In the meantime… You can check out our project page on the New Music USA site, by clicking HERE!

I had a fantastic time visiting with colleagues and students at four schools in Colorado earlier this month! Stops included Adams State University (Alamosa), Colorado State University (Fort Collins), Colorado Christian University (Denver), and the Lamont School of Music (University of Denver). It was wonderful to share some of the music that I’ve been working on recently in recitals and masterclasses, hear some outstanding students play, and to have lots of really great conversations! I’m already looking forward to the next time I get to visit this beautiful state, that also happens to be overflowing with excellent percussion!

And, of course, thanks to all of my incredibly generous sponsors for supporting my visit and music education! It wouldn’t have been possible without their assistance!

I’m extremely excited to be presenting a session at the 2019 National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX!  My presentation is entitled “Work Worth Doing: Integrating Service Learning Into the Collegiate Percussion Curriculum,” and it is aimed at helping fellow percussion instructors get involved in service learning with their students. This is a topic that I’m extremely passionate about, and proud of the work that we have been doing at WCU!  If you’re not able to attend the conference, I’ve shared the handout below.  Feel free to let me know what you think about it.  I’d love to hear from you!

You can find the session handout HERE!

The 18-19 School Year/Season is underway, and I’m really excited about all of the things happening this year!  Some highlights include a clinic/performance tour to three universities in Virginia in October, a performance with the Assembly Saxophone Quartet (with my WCU colleague Ian Jeffress) at the American Single Reed Summit, playing Chris Ozley’s concerto with the WCU Wind Ensemble in the spring, and a few trips to play with the orchestra in Des Moines.  My students are gearing up for a performance at PASIC in November, and I’ve got plenty of other events on the calendar, as well.  I’m also organizing a consortium to commission a new piece from the amazing Emma O’Halloran, and starting to make some plans for another big project with the women of Kinds of Kings.  Hope to see you at a performance sometime this season!

(Picture from WCU Faculty Showcase Recital on 9/4/18 – Playing Gene Koshinski’s “Get It!” with Dr. Will Peebles)

Im humbled to have been elected to serve as the new President of the North Carolina Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society! I’ll have big shoes to fill, following the great work of Dr. Don Parker, but I’m looking forward to working with my fellow officers to continue building this great music community in N.C.!

I’m looking forward to traveling to New York next week to perform Jason Treuting’s “Nine Numbers 1” and “Nine Numbers 2” on a great show at the Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn! The show features myself, Ji Hye Jung, So Percussion, and Tigue, and I’m so excited to share the stage with so many outstanding musicians and friends! While I’m in town I’ll also be giving clinics at NYU and Queens College, which will be a great time meeting lots of friendly new faces! You can find more info about the performance HERE

After four amazing years in Iowa, I will be leaving Graceland University to become the new percussion teacher at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina!  I am so excited for this new chapter, and for the opportunity to work with such outstanding students and faculty colleagues in the School of Music at WCU!  I am forever grateful to the incredible people who made GU and Lamoni such a wonderful experience, and I know that the future is bright for the program that we built there!  If you’re looking for a great place to study percussion in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains, be sure to check out WCU!

I’m thrilled to announce that I am now an Educational Endorser for the Avedis Zildjian Corporation!  There are so many incredible artists and teachers on the Zildjian Roster, and I am honored to be able to join them!  Zildjian makes the absolute best cymbals in the world, and they’ve been doing so for centuries.  Here’s to a long and wonderful relationship with this amazing company!

I’ve been really fortunate to have lots of opportunities to visit with colleagues and students at other universities this spring!  Conference travels have taken me across the country, and I’ve been able to connect with students at the University of Nebraska, University of Missouri, and Eastern New Mexico University.  Later this week I head to the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music to visit with their percussion students.  I love having a chance to meet all of the new people, visit new places, and talk about drums!