Rich Holly's Percussion Place

2010-03-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

BACK FROM INDY

My trip to Indianapolis was great! The Music For All - Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival was terrific. We heard several great groups and met many wonderful directors and students. In particular, two middle school percussion ensembles from Cobb County, Georgia, were amazing - Dickerson Middle School and Simpson Middle School. WOW! These groups play at an amazingly high level. Kudos to their directors, Scott Brown and Mike Lynch.

The other adjudicators were John Parks, Don Liuzzi, and Robert van Sice. We had a great time hanging, and enjoyed hearing and telling stories with the renowned conductor Colonel Arnald Gabriel. It was also great to see my good friends at Yamaha, John Wittmann and Chris Dolson.

I was also able to spend considerable time at the new Rhythm! Discovery Center, the new museum run by the Percussive Arts Society. Holy cow, is it terrific! It's in a terrific location right downtown Indianapolis, and it looks and feels wonderful. There are several hands-on and interactive exhibits, quiet rooms to play in, and several excellent uses of technology throughout. It's a must-see the next time you're in Indy.

2010-03-02T19:12:00.000-08:00

I Know It's Been Awhile...

It's been 10 months since I posted to this blog. With my duties as Dean I haven't been able to keep up with as much in percussion as previously. To see my blog about the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts which I am posting to regularly, go here:

http://niucvpa.blogspot.com/

This winter I've been active presenting clinics and workshops. On January 27 I presented several sessions at the University of Central Missouri, where I was hosted by the gracious Mike Sekelsky. On January 27 I presented a session at the Missouri Music Educators Association convention, which was based on my book, "Majoring in Music: All the Stuff You Need to Know."

On February 13 I was an adjudicator of percussion ensembles at the Lincoln-Way Day of Percussion in New Lenox, Illinois. Eric Wellman did a great job organizing the day. I also presented a session demonstrating my concepts and techniques of how to practice.

This week I'll be in Indianapolis for the Music For All National Festival, once again adjudicating at the National Percussion Ensemble Festival. This festival is now actually named the Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival. Sandy was a one-of-a-kind musician, composer, editor, educator, author, businessman and leader who left us too soon, and it's great to see his name live on this way. Adjudicating with me will be John Parks, Robert van Sice, and Don Liuzzi. This is the third time I'll be at this festival, it's always a great time and we hear several excellent ensembles.

While in Indy I'll also be at the new Rhythm! Discover Center - the new museum of the Percussive Arts Society. I had every intention of seeing Rhythm! when it opened during PASIC 2009, but as some of you know I became ill and could not attend PASIC. I'm really looking forward to seeing it - the photos look amazing and everyone I know who has seen it has come away extremely impressed.

2009-04-20T19:42:00.000-07:00

Wonderful Performance Featuring Ed Saindon

Today we were fortunate to have the amazing Ed Saindon as a guest artist on the NIU campus. Ed presented a jazz improvisation workshop in the afternoon, and performed this evening at one of our local music venues, The House Cafe. Performing with Ed this evening was my colleague Rodrigo Villanueva on drums, our fantastic alum Doug Stone on tenor and soprano saxes, and another fabulous alum on bass, John Tate.

Ed's been one of my favorite vibraphonists since I first heard him play, sometime in the early 1980's I think it was. I met Ed for the first time in 1990, and the past couple of years we've been in touch more. He is a warm, genuine human being who happens to be an absolutely incredible musician. Immediately following one of his solos tonight, before any clapping could start, one of the audience members yelled "WOW!" I'm pretty sure that sums up how everyone in the audience was feeling about Ed's playing. It was so great to see Ed and to hear him play again. I hope you get the chance to see and hear him, too.

2009-04-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

New Position at NIU!
(and other assorted percussion stuff)

Avid readers of this blog know that since July I've held the position of Acting Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University. I'm extremely excited to report that following a several-month national search, I have been offered, and accepted, the position as Dean of the CVPA.

I am looking forward to continuing the work on the several initiatives in which I've been involved in this year as well as pursuing new ones. We have so many wonderful things going on in the arts at NIU, it's a real honor for me to know I'm now the permanent Dean.

If you care to read the official press release, it's here.

I can hardly believe it's been nearly two months since my last post. Just a few of the goings-on since then: I was an adjudicator at the National Percussion Festival, run by Music For All, in Indianapolis in March. The other adjudicators were John Tafoya, Cort McClaren, and my good friend Jim Campbell. It was a great time - great friends, great music, and for a great purpose. I was also able to spend time with my good friends Michael Kenyon and Scott Deal.

My colleagues here at NIU, Liam Teague and Robert Chappell, performed a recital in March. I played on one tune - Robert and I revived our old "Dueling Xylophones" schtick with several changes and updates. The recital is online here. To get to the piece I'm on , you can click on the bottom scroll bar to move ahead - the piece begins at the 47 minute mark.

2009-02-15T09:05:00.000-08:00

MY NEW BOOK!

My new book is now available! "Majoring in Music - All the Stuff You Need to Know" is published by Meredith Music Publications and distributed by the Hal Leonard Corporation, the world's largest music distributor. The official release date is March 1, but it is available now at Amazon, Tower, Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Target for pre-sale, most with a deep discount. (I also see it's for sale by some Japanese book sellers!)

The book is divided into three main sections: The Academic Stuff, The Musical Stuff, and the The Life Stuff. In those sections are subheadings dealing with advising, time management, studying, practicing, music theory, music history, aural skills, positive attitude, health, roommates, and many other similar items that are of importance to the ultimate success of a music major. Each of these includes tips and strategies for improvement.

I was very fortunate to get some wonderful quotes from leading university music educators and administrators that are found on the back cover of the book. Here are parts of the quotes:

"Rich Holly's guide is direct, succinct, and to the point; a must read for both prospective or current music students and those who support them (parents and others). "

"...an invaluable guide for all prospective and matriculating music students...covers every important aspect of their college lives in an informal, enjoyable, direct and perceptive manner."

"...terrific suggestions will help young aspiring musicians. My own 17-year old son is contemplating a music career, and it will become required reading for him."

"...written with the compassion of a caring advisor (and parent), with wit and real-life anecdotes, Holly presents invaluable lessons and wisdom...."

"...provides a wealth of knowledge for any student who wishes to pursue a degree in music...."

Many thanks go out to the several readers I had and to my research assistant, Kerry O'Brien, and to my family for allowing me the time to write and edit. If you know anyone who is considering majoring in music, or has already made the decision to do that, this book is meant for them.

2009-01-24T20:15:00.000-08:00

FANTASTIC ILLINOIS DAY OF PERCUSSION

Okay, I might be biased since my colleague Greg Beyer here at Northern Illinois University hosted the event, but today was one fantastic Day of Percussion for the Illinois chapter of the Percussive Arts Society. For most of the day we had 250 attendees, and for the evening concert the attendance was over 300.

The day began with an "uncontest" for middle school and high school players to play their solo and ensemble pieces for a judge to get comments on improvement so that they're more prepared in a few weeks when the state solo and ensemble contest takes place. Several dozen students took advantage of that great opportunity. We then had a terrific clinic by Vadim Karpinos of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, an amazing masterclass by She-e Wu, a truly unique and engaging performance by Aiyun Huang, and then several of the universities in the state performed individually and then together in a wonderful "summit" of Illinois percussionists.

Vadim Karpinos

She-e Wu

Aiyun Huang

The evening concert featured So Percussion, who played beautifully. (We were fortunate have had So in residence here at NIU for the past 3 days - the students were incredibly happy to have them here and are even more motivated than usual.)

So Percussion

In addition to how musical and inspiring all the clinics and performances were, what always impresses me the most is that the finest artists in our field are some of the most wonderful people you'll ever meet. And, as these things always go, it was great to see so many former students as well as colleagues from all over the state here and to have a chance to catch up on what they're doing.

Greg did an amazing job marketing the event and organizing the event. Everyone I spoke with had a really great time and was really grateful to be able to be here for the day.

Greg Beyer

2009-01-01T11:52:00.000-08:00

EIGHT GREAT YEARS

Yesterday was the official end of my time as an officer of the Percussive Arts Society. I spent 2 years each as Vice President, President-elect, President, and Immediate Past President, and it's hard to believe the eight years went by this quickly. These were eight, not just great, but fantastic years of teamwork that helped raise the Society to the next level. I'm indebted to the other officers with whom I worked during this time: Bob Breithaupt, Jim Campbell, Mark Ford, Michael Balter, Kristen Shiner McGuire, Gary Cook, Steve Houghton, John R. Beck, Lisa Rogers, and Steve Beck. In particular I want to thank Michael Kenyon, the Executive Director of PAS, for his partnership, support, guidance and friendship.

I'm especially pleased we were able to move the PAS headquarters, museum and library to Indianapolis during my presidency. Already we are seeing positive results of that move that would not have been possible without the move, and I'm excited about the upcoming opening of our permanent space in downtown Indy, which should be completed summer 2009. We're working with an amazing architect (who designed several of Epcot Center's pavilions) and the space will be tremendous when completed.

Thanks, too, to the many PAS members with whom I've corresponded the past eight years, for your support and encouragement. And I really appreciate the many, many friends I've gained the world over through my work with PAS.

Starting today Steve Houghton is the new PAS President, and I know PAS is in good hands. As a Past President, I am a member of the Board of Directors for life (no rest for the wicked!), so I greatly look forward to staying involved.

Happy New Year, everyone!

2008-11-30T21:34:00.000-08:00

RECENT BOOK RELEASE

I'm happy to announce the release of The Drum and Percussion Cookbook - Creative Recipes for Players and Teachers, published by Meredith Music. Edited by Rick Mattingly, the book is a collection of insightful strategies by a host of today's leading percussionists.

Contributing authors include: Kenny Aronoff, Anders Astrand, John H. Beck, Michael Burritt, Bill Cahn, James Campbell, Anthony Cirone, Christopher Deane, Robin Engelman, Peter Erskine, Mark Ford, Danny Gottlieb, Gordon Gottlieb, Neil Grover, Rich Holly (yes, that's me!), Steve Houghton, Glenn Kotche, William Moersch, Jeff Moore, Al Payson, Michael Rosen, Ed Saindon, Dave Samuels, Ed Shaughnessy, Ed Soph, John Tafoya, Garwood Whaley, She-e Wu, and many others.

I encourage you to visit the "What's New" section of the Meredith Music website or your favorite bookseller to order your copy today.

AND...In addition to being a part of this excellent book, I'm very pleased to tell you that this spring will see the release of my own book - Majoring in Music: All the Stuff You Need to Know, also published by Meredith Music. I'll post more information when the book is available for sale.

2008-11-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

BACK FROM PASIC

Well, another Percussive Arts Society International Convention has come and gone, and I'm proud to say it was another tremendous convention. As usual, I got to see many great friends from around the world, and we were able to make some great decisions in the meetings I attended to further the work of PAS. Highlights for me were sharing the stage with Evelyn Glennie and Roy Burns, hearing the Ed Soph Trio twice, the Friday night Tribute to John Bergamo concert, and the leadership forum presented by a very talented speaker, Pat Richie. We also had a golf tournament on Tuesday, November 4 - the group I was in played horribly but we sure had fun!

Keep your eyes on the PASIC website - photos and videos will be uploaded over the next few days and weeks.

If you've never been to PASIC, make plans now to attend next year. We had nearly 7,000 people attend this year's. PASIC 2009 will be in Indianapolis, Indiana, November 11 through 14. The Indianapolis Convention Center is set up beautifully for our needs: there are 27 hotels, many of which are connected via walkways to the convention center (read: in bad weather, you get to stay inside!), and within a short walk of the convention center there are something like 200 restaurants - a perfect arrangement for our convention.

PLUS - the PAS headquarters and museum will be open in downtown Indianapolis, with a gala grand opening planned for PASIC 2009. Athough PAS has had an amazing collection of instruments and a museum for many years, this will be the first time the museum and convention are in the same city (and will be for many years to come!).

2008-11-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

OFF TO PASIC!

I leave bright and early tomorrow morning for Austin, Texas, site of this year's PASIC, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Tuesday afternoon is the PAS Golf Outing, which I'm greatly looking forward to, and Wednesday 9:00 starts 4 days of what seems like non-stop concerts, clinics, labs, competitions, exhibits, and seeing many, many colleagues from around the world. I'll be making one of the award presentations at Friday night's banquet, and I'll be providing the opening remarks for Friday night's concert, a tribute to the wonderful John Bergamo. I have several Executive Committee and Board of Directors meetings throughout the 4 days, but I expect to get to several great concerts and clinics, too.

If you're going to PASIC and see me (there'll be 7000+ of us there), stop me to say "hi." If you can't make it this year, start making plans for PASIC 2009 in Indianapolis.

2008-10-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

Julie Spencer at NIU

Marimba artist Julie Spencer is at NIU this week, performing in concert Wednesday, October 8 at 8:00 p.m. in the Music Building Recital Hall, along with her husband, Gernot Blume. This morning Julie gave a clinic and presented a masterclass. It's always fun to see Julie in a clinic setting - I don't think I've ever heard her say the same thing twice, yet there's definitely a "thread" to what she has to say - be human, create meaningful music, don't force things. I can tell you that she's playing as great as ever, which is so great to see and hear. If you're near DeKalb on Wednesday the 8th, stop in for her concert.

2008-09-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

Great PAS Officers' Meeting

(It's amazing how quickly 3 months can go by - I can hardly believe it's been that long since I last posted.)

Two weeks ago I spent 4 days in Indianapolis with the Percussive Arts Society Executive Committee (Gary Cook, Steve Houghton, Steve Beck, Lisa Rogers, John R. Beck, Michael Kenyon and me) doing business for the Society. Having moved our headquarters to Indy we are really excited about many of the changes we've been able to make. The majority of the staff is new since we relocated to Indy, and they are doing awesome work. We also contracted with new financial advisors, and wow, are they good - in 2008 thus far, with the market down about 15%, these folks were able to grow our investments by 1%. I don't know anyone else whose investments have beat the market average and actually made gains.

We spent one entire day with the architect for our new museum - I can't share any specific details right now, but I'm hoping soon I'll be able to provide detailed information about how great this museum will be. Stay tuned for that....

We made several final decisions about the upcoming PASIC, and the lineup of artists who have confirmed looks spectacular. For those of you interested, I'll be introducing the Friday night concert, which is a tribute to the wonderful John Bergamo.

If you haven't yet made plans to attend PASIC, you'd better hurry up and do so - attendance figures are very high and hotel rooms are running short. And for all you PAS members reading this, remember to vote in the Board of Directors' election currently underway - the deadline is October 1 to cast your votes.

2008-06-21T20:48:00.001-07:00

NEW POSITION AT NIU

It's been quite some time since I last posted, but it's not because of lack of activity. I'm happy to announce that as of July 1, 2008 I will be the Acting Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University. As most of you know, I've been the Associate Dean for about 8 years now. The two positions are quite different - the Associate Dean job is primarily working with students and curriculum, while the Dean's job is budget, personnel, strategic planning and fund raising.

I'm looking forward to this opportunity greatly. Over the past couple of months I've been more steadily becoming familiar with the Dean side of things in our office, and it's been great. I've cut back on accepting gigs for now so I can keep up with the learning curve, although thankfully I've still had time to practice some!

2008-04-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

REMEMBERING WILLIAM F. LUDWIG II

This morning I attended the memorial service for William F. Ludwig II, who passed away in late March. I was glad to see that several industry icons and representatives were present, as well as several well-known drummers and percussionists. Words of remembrance were beautifully given by his daughter Brooke, son William F. Ludwig III, and his granddaughter Maggie Mae Ludwig.

I first met Bill sometime in the '70's and felt lucky to be living near him the past 25 years. We would see each other 1-2 times a year, and he was always so full of life. Not only did he have an incredible library of stories to tell, but he told them marvelously and with a great sense of humor.

Perhaps my favorite recollection of Bill is this: When I was the Illinois chapter President of the Percussive Arts Society in the late 1980's, we were having our annual Day of Percussion in the Chicago suburbs. That morning a huge snowstorm came in fast and furious. One of my students and I left DeKalb early to make sure we made it to the location - with the hopes that the storm was hitting DeKalb but perhaps not the Chicago area. Unfortunately, the storm was throughout the entire region and the snow was piling up fast. We arrived to find we were the only ones there, the host was not there, none of the host's students were there to help set up. 5 minutes later in walks Bill Ludwig, saying he left early because he wanted to make sure he made it to the Day of Percussion. The minutes went by and only a few die hards showed up. By the time 9:00 a.m. came around, the official start time of the day's events, there were less than 10 people there - and none who were there were any of the day's clinicians! Bill asked me what we were going to do, and I told him I would ask everyone to be patient and that we would give others more time to arrive. He said to me, "Why wait? Get me a drum - no - let's get 3 drums! We'll play Three Camps and I'll talk about the historic significance of it!" So, Bill, my student and I rummaged and found 3 drums and 3 pairs of sticks, and that's what we did. It was the only clinic that day, but the few of us that were there were treated to in-depth coverage of one of Bill's most passionate subjects.

I won't go into all the details of his life, since there are several great obits online if you google his name. Here are links to two of them:

Ludwig Drums website announcement

Percussive Arts Society In Memoriam

Today's service ended with several drummers playing Three Camps on rope drums. A fitting tribute to a great friend. R.I.P., Chief, we'll miss you.

2008-03-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

ANOTHER GREAT GUEST AT NIU

Last night we hosted Stuart Marrs, the percussion professor at the University of Maine, who presented a two-and-one-half hour clinic and masterclass on Elliott Carter's Eight Pieces for Four Timpani, and also presented a cymbal clinic.

Stuart has a fantastic DVD out on the Carter Eight Pieces - I highly recommend you purchase it. It is really interactive, including comments being spoken (in your choice of 3 languages!) over the performance of each piece, errata, copies of the original manuscripts, the ability to change camera angles, overhead views detailing the various striking spots on the heads, and more. It's one of the best educational DVDs I've ever had the pleasure of watching and using.

Stuart did a great job discussing the Carter Pieces and the process he went through in learning, analyzing, memorizing and recording them. He heard 4 of our students play and gave excellent critiques and several very helpful hints to each of them. I've had the pleasure of knowing Stuart for many years through the Percussive Arts Society, and he is always positive, friendly and helpful. He brings these qualities to his presentations. If you're a college professor and haven't yet had Stuart as a guest on your campus, you need to seriously consider bringing him in - the students really enjoyed the experience.

2008-02-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

NIU WORKS ON HEALING, GETS BACK TO EDUCATION

Wow, what a couple of weeks it has been. Most of us, myself included, are still in some shock and disbelief about the shootings on campus. All of the injured students (and instructor) have been released from the hospital as of yesterday - thankfully they all survived.

Last week was particularly stressful. Designated as a Week of Healing, no classes or events of any kind were held. There were visitations and funerals for the 5 deceased students which several NIU administrators and faculty attended. Last Thursday, at exactly to the minute one week after the shootings, we held 5 minutes of silence on our Martin Luther King Mall, which is right next door to the building (Cole Hall) where the shootings took place. It was pretty powerful.

All faculty and staff received training last week to help us understand how to deal with the students and several of the common questions they would have. Classes resumed this past Monday, and we had over 500 additional counselors on campus Monday and Tuesday so that every class had a counselor present. I've heard from several faculty and students that having the counselors in their classes was really meaningful.

This past Sunday evening we held a Memorial Service at our Convocation Center. It was completely filled (more than 10,000 people), and there were 5 overflow locations, each of which was at least half filled, to which the service was broadcast via closed circuit TV. Our President, John Peters, spoke, and his wife provided the memorial for the 5 students (and she was wonderful - I don't know how she was able to say their names without breaking down). Other speakers included the Governor of Illinois and our senior senator, Dick Durbin, a faculty member (Judy Santacaterina, who provided really moving comments), the student association president, and a couple of others. Our Concert Choir sang three hugely appropriate selections. Barack Obama was on stage but did not speak. At the end, we all stood to sing the NIU Alma Mater - except by then nearly all of us were all crying and very few understandable words came out of any one's mouth. All in all it was a tremendously moving and excellent service.

NIU now has a webpage regarding the shootings with links to various sources and resources, which you can find here. One of the first links is to the video of the memorial service, I encourage you to watch it - it lasts one hour.

The Chicago media did a terrific job of keeping up with the stories and investigations. In particular I liked the coverage by the Chicago Tribune and NBC channel 5.

Amidst all the sorrow, I received over 100 emails, cards, phone calls and text messages from all over the world, as did all of my colleagues. The outpouring of sympathy and support has been phenomenal. Two days ago we received a scrapbook, mailed to our band students, from the marching band at Virginia Tech (the site of horrible shootings nearly one year ago). The scrapbook is filled with drawings, letters, memorabilia and the like demonstrating the Marching Hokies' support for our students. It's absolutely amazing.

Yesterday the Governor asked the state legislature to approve bonds for $40 million to demolish Cole Hall and build a new classroom building which would be named Memorial Hall. There are mixed opinions about this, many being shared on comments pages of the major media outlets. I am completely on board with this plan.

2008-02-14T20:36:00.000-08:00

TRAGEDY STRIKES NIU CAMPUS

FBI agents during their initial investigation of the crime scene

At about 3:00 this afternoon a gunman walked onto the stage of a large lecture hall in Cole Hall of the Northern Illinois University campus and opened fire on the 150 or so students sitting in the room. He killed 5 students, injured another 16 or 17 (including the instructor of the course), and then killed himself.

For more complete details you can find a great deal of information on the CNN website or the Chicago Tribune website.

I've been a faculty member and administrator at NIU for nearly 25 years and absolutely love it here. I am in shock and deeply saddened, and I can't even imagine what the parents of the deceased are going through. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims and their loved ones.

2008-02-07T20:07:00.001-08:00

ANOTHER FUN DAY

One of my best friends in the percussion world is the amazing Afro-Cuban and Brazilian specialist Michael Spiro. Michael was here at NIU today, where he gave 5 hours of clinics and workshops. His appearance was sponsored by our student percussion club, and I'm really happy to see the students be able to take charge of raising funds, making all the arrangements, taking care of his transportation, etc.

Michael was awesome as always, so knowledgeable on history and culture in addition to his incredible talents and abilities. On top of all that, he's really funny and a great person.

Tonight we had Michael, Robert Chappell and his wife Suzanne, Greg Beyer and 3 of the students over to our house for dinner and had a wonderful evening. One day with Michael is never enough - it's best when he can be in residence for at least 3 days. We're already looking forward to the next time he can be here and we can hang with him for a longer period of time.

2008-01-02T20:18:00.000-08:00

LEAVING FOR INDY

I'm off on another trip to Indianapolis to meet with the Percussive Arts Society Executive Committee for 4 days. These "EC" meetings are always invigorating. We accomplish a great deal of work and we always have a great time together.

This begins my final year as an officer of PAS (my 2nd year as Immediate Past President). I'm not yet melancholy about leaving the Executive Committee, but I expect in 11 months or so I will be! We still have a lot of great things to work on this year, so I'm really looking forward to it.

2007-12-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

It's been a busy month since my last post. I've now completed my temporary appointment as Acting Director of the School of Art at Northern Illinois University, and I can go back to just one position, my usual "gig" as Associate Dean of our College of Visual and Performing Arts, in January. We met some difficult challenges this semester in the School of Art, and most importantly I got to know my colleagues there much, much better. I've greatly enjoyed the experience and in particular enjoyed working closely with so many more people.

Yesterday my family and I saw the annual Chicago Symphony Orchestra holiday program, "Welcome Yule." There were many excellent arrangements, and we got a kick out of my friend and percussionist Jim Ross who was given a speaking part in addition to his performing. The orchestra sounded great, of course, and it's a wonderful part of the Holly Family Christmas Tradition that we go every year. This afternoon we saw a fabulous updated version of The Nutcracker, presented by The House Theatre in Chicago. It's a play/musical, not a ballet, and the story is brought into more of the present time. It's part dark and part very funny, and we enjoyed it greatly.

I want to wish each of you a happy and safe holiday season, and best wishes for a meaningful 2008.

2007-11-21T13:48:00.000-08:00

Excellent Concert

Okay, so I'm biased, but last night's concert by the Northern Illinois University Percussion Ensemble was terrific. A great variety of music from several cultures, including one North American premiere and one World Premiere performance. Special guests for the concert were Valerie Naranjo and Barry Olsen. Most of you are likely familiar with Valerie's work as the percussionist in the Saturday Night Live band on NBC, and/or for her work with Broadway's The Lion King. But she is extremely talented in many areas, not the least of which is on the West African gyil. Her husband, Barry, is a really fine trombonist, pianist and percussionist, who is a fixture on the NYC Latin Jazz scene. The students had an awesome time working with both of them and getting to perform with them. Congratulations to my colleagues Robert Chappell and Greg Beyer for putting together such a fantastic concert.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

2007-11-13T19:05:00.000-08:00

Great Fun

My family and I were able to have Peter Erskine and Rodrigo Villanueva over to our house for dinner tonight. I teach at NIU with Rodrigo and as much as I see him at school it's always terrific to be able to spend time with him in a social setting.

I've known Peter for probably 15 years, but when we see each other it's always been at a Percussive Arts Society Board of Directors meeting or passing in the halls of music festivals at which we're both playing. In all those years tonight was the first time I've had the chance to just hang with him, and it was great fun. I've always enjoyed speaking with him, but it was great to get to know him better and see how smart, funny and insightful he really is. He's here to go on tour with the top NIU Jazz Ensemble this week. He gave an excellent 2-hour clinic this morning, and in between touring gigs he'll be back on campus Thursday for another clinic and an evening concert with the Jazz Ensemble. If you're reading this and can make it to DeKalb, I highly recommend coming to our Duke Ellington Ballroom in the Student Center this Thursday night, November 15, at 8:00.

2007-11-07T19:50:00.000-08:00

Back From PASIC!

PASIC ended last Saturday night, and it was awesome as always. I was fortunate this year to have only about 1/2 as many meetings as the past few years, so I actually got to see several sessions and spend time in the exhibit hall.

Even with the (about) 3 hours total that I spent in the exhibit hall, that wasn't nearly enough time to see every booth and find out what's new. But I did see some great stuff and am excited to put my credit cards to good use.

As for sessions, I really enjoyed Michael Spiro and Michael Williams' group BataMbira. Andy Narell's group played very well, and for me it's always great to watch Luis Conte, who was on percussion for Andy. The Chung Ang group from Korea was a lot of fun, and Geraldo De Oliviera's pandeiro clinic was extremely well presented. Trio Manari from Brazil was originally scheduled to perform with guest Nana Vasconcelos, who had to cancel at the last minute. Lucky for us, Giovanni Hidalgo was there and he gladly took over the reins of the guest spot and made Friday night's concert a huge success. I was honored to make the introductory remarks for the concert, and hanging backstage with Giovanni was a blast. I was very happy to see and hear Ear Massage, a quartet from Mexico whom I had met at the Taipei International Percussion Convention a couple of years ago. In addition to what's listed in my post below, I was extremely proud of my former students, the Base4 Percussion Quartet, who performed as part of Focus Day. They played beautifully and the audience's reaction was fantastic.

I was a member of a panel discussion hosted by the Education Committee, and the topic was "How to Build a Powerhouse Percussion Program." I was joined by Mark Ford of the University of North Texas, Jim Royle who owns his own (very successful) studio in Connecticut, John Parks from Florida State University, and John Brennan, a high school director from Plano, Texas. We had a great audience who were very interested in hearing what we had to say, and they had really pertinent questions for us.

And, for me, the best part is getting to see so many friends and meeting new people. I can't possibly list all the friends and former students I saw, but it was great to see all of you and I'm already looking forward to next year.

PASIC 2008 will be in Austin, Texas, November 5-8. Make plans now to attend so you can hang with over 7000 of your closest friends!

2007-11-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

Here at PASIC 2007!

I had intended on writing at least a little something before leaving to come to PASIC, but clearly I've had a crazy few weeks. I'm in Columbus at PASIC and it's fantastic! We have tremendous attendance, the largest amount of exhibit space ever, and one great clinic and concert after another.

Today I was able to see and thrill to my NIU colleagues, Robert Chappell and Liam Teague, and their group Panoramic. They played beautifully and I am blessed to be able to work alongside such awesome musicians and people. Tonight's concert featured the truly fine player Emmanuel Sejourne in the first half, followed by the astonishing Korean group Chang Ang. You have to see this group to believe it. There are several clips of the group on YouTube, here is one of them.

I'll write again next week when I've returned home, but if you're not here at PASIC you are truly missing out - plan on attending in 2008!

2007-10-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

Another Sad Loss

Readers of this page will remember that my father passed away in July. This past weekend, my mother passed away at the age of 83.

She suffered for several years from a disease known as pulmonary fibrosis, and ultimately she contracted pneumonia which, when combined with her pulmonary fibrosis, made it impossible for her to breathe.

I started playing drums around the age of 6. I would come home from school and play for a good 2-3 hours before dinner, which was always at 6:30 when my father came home from work. I was raised in a small Cape Cod style home on Long Island, NY, and my mother would be cleaning the house and then cooking dinner while I was playing drums in the basement, almost directly underneath her. She never complained about the volume and on the rare day when I wasn't playing drums she would ask "Aren't you going to play your drums today?"

She was supportive of all my endeavors. So, for all your awesome support, for taking me to my lessons and for putting up with thousands of hours of loud drumming, I love you, Ma, and I'll miss you dearly.

2007-09-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

Make Plans to Attend PASIC

If you haven't yet made your plans to attend PASIC, now is the time. For those of you short on funds, I recommend you apply to be a member of the Logistics Team - you don't need to work that many hours, but you do get your registration free of charge and you're automatically entered in a drawing among the logistics workers for several great prizes. Check out the PASIC website for a list of the awesome clinics and concerts scheduled this year. As usual, there are about 150 sessions over 4 days. It's the "can't miss" percussion event of the year.

2007-09-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

Off to Indy

I'm leaving this afternoon for Indianapolis, for 3 days of meetings with the Percussive Arts Society Executive Committee (the officers of the Society). Although we hold conference phone calls 1-2 times a month throughout the year, by far I believe we get out best work done when we're all sitting around a table discussing items face-to-face, which we only get to do 3 times a year. It's a great group of people.

Just about every time I mention to someone that I'm going to Indianapolis (and I go there about 3-4 times a year), they say something about there not being much there. In my opinion, Indianapolis has really grown up in the past 10-15 years. There is a great deal of world-class culture, several professional sports teams, and many, many good or even great restaurants. No, I'm not getting paid to say anything nice about Indy! But I do really appreciate what the city has been and is continuing to do to make it a really vibrant place.

2007-08-31T19:50:00.000-07:00

SCHOOL YEAR BEGINS WITH A FLOOD

The school year here at Northern Illinois University began with tornado sirens, rotating clouds, heavy rains, and finally a flood. The flooding was so bad that of the 10 bridges in town that cross the Kishwaukee River, only 2 were passable. The University shut down on Friday, August 24 around 10:15 in the morning to send everyone home, as more rains were expected.

In this photo, what you cannot see are the Music and Art buildings, which are to the right of where this photo ends. But this is the southeast corner of the NIU campus: the bottom of the photo is the east side, where the Kishwaukee River is

The Music Building is right next to the Kishwaukee River, and even though both the north side and south side parking lots were complete lakes, somehow the water did not enter the building. The Art Building, which is next door to the Music Building, was not as lucky. The first floor of the Art Building is below grade, so quite a bit of water went into the hallways. Luckily the door seals worked beautifully and kept the water out of the rooms.

HOWEVER, overnight Friday into Saturday, the storm sewers became overloaded and water began to gush into the lower level of 3 of the lecture halls on the Art Building's first floor. When you enter these rooms on the first floor, you're at the back of the room, and they go down several levels from there, making a nice basement-level location for the water to collect. We ended up with about 18" of water in these 3 rooms for the entire weekend - even with multiple pumps running 24 hours a day, the water was coming in just as quickly as it was being pumped out. Dozens of employees from the Building Services department worked all weekend long and continued to work all this past week. The rooms needed a huge amount of cleaning after the water was completely removed, electrical service needed attention, and the media/computer equipment was water logged. This Labor Day weekend even more people will be in there getting the rooms completely cleaned, dry, and working with new computers so we can begin to hold classes in there. It's been astonishing to see so many people be so passionate and dedicated about their work in getting these rooms ready at the first available moment.

This is the football field at one of the middle schools a couple of blocks away from the NIU campus

2007-08-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

BACK FROM KOSA!

I got back from KOSA a few days ago. I had a terrific time there, and it was awesome to see so many of my drum and percussion buddies and to hear them play and watch them teach. It was held on the campus of Johnson State College in Vermont, and the facilities work out very well for the event. Congratulations to Aldo Mazza, his wife Jolán, and his staff for hosting a wonderful week of drumming and sharing.

Among my friends on the KOSA faculty who I got to see there and hang with were Arnie Lang, Allan Molnar, Memo Acevedo, She-e Wu, Michael Spiro, John Riley, and Jim Royle. I got to know Mike Manieri better, and met for the first time Marco Lienhard, Jeff Salisbury, Gregg Bissonette, Michael Wimberly and Dafnis Prieto, all really terrific people and musicians. I also saw the ever delightful Ron Baker from England, who was attending KOSA for the 7th time as a student! I just love how after nearly 6 decades as a professional drummer he still has the desire to learn and the energy to make the trip "across the pond."

I taught 4 classes there, and performed twice. I played my own "Sonata for Timpani" on the Tuesday night concert, and in the Wednesday morning masterclass I played congas with Allan Molnar on vibes and Terry Silverlight on drums, who was "beaming in" from his home in NY via Apple iChat and iSight technology to play with us. My four class topics were Timpani, Body Percussion Ensemble, How to Practice, and Interpreting Big Band Charts.

If you're looking for a summer camp and festival that allows you to learn first-hand from world-class players, and in an intimate setting, I highly recommend you consider attending a future KOSA.

Here are just a few photos from the week (click on them to get full-sized images):

That's Allan Molnar on vibes, Terry Silverlight on drums "beaming in," and me on congas.

L to R: Aldo Mazza, Memo Acevedo, Michael Spiro

She-e Wu with Arnie Lang backstage

The view from just outside of the hall where we performed

2007-08-01T20:17:00.000-07:00

OFF TO KOSA!

I leave tomorrow for a combination vacation and appearances at KoSA, the percussion camp run by Aldo Mazza every summer for the past 12 years (this year it's August 6 - 12). There is an amazing assortment of artists appearing this year (as in every year), I have no idea how he gets the money to bring in so many awesome players and teachers. There are concerts every night, and I'll be performing on the concert on Tuesday night August 7. I'll also be teaching 2 classes a day on Tuesday and Wednesday. Check out the link to learn what's going on there.

2007-07-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

TWO JOBS!

Well, in a period of what must surely be madness, I've agreed to serve in two positions here at Northern Illinois University for the next 6 months. Our Director of the School of Art has resigned to take a position at another school, so I've agreed to serve as the Acting Director of the School of Art until December 31, and I'll be keeping my position as Associate Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts as well. Thankfully, we have great staffs in both offices, and I know I'll be relying a great deal on all of them. The only real drawback is that I won't be able to do any teaching this fall, and who the heck knows when I'm ever going to find time to practice other than on my steering wheel while I'm driving! I'm actually looking forward to it, I enjoy new challenges and learning more about how the university works. Wish me luck!

2007-07-11T21:40:00.000-07:00

My Father

I haven't written anything here for some time. Last week, on Tuesday, July 3, my father passed away. I was able to be with him for the last three days of his life.

My father bought me my first pair of drumsticks. I had seen a drummer on TV (this was pre-Beatles, so it wasn't Ringo, who influenced so many of us) and had asked him to get me a pair of sticks. I was 5 or 6 years old at the time. A few days later, on his way home after work, he stopped at a music store and got me a pair of sticks. Having no drums, I used a vinyl desk chair that had a metal frame as my snare drum (vinyl seat) and cymbal (the metal top of the chair's back). I turned two plastic trash cans upside-down , placed them next to the chair and used those for tom toms, and proceeded to play in my bedroom with that setup while listening to the radio.

After a few years, my father figured I was serious so he sprung for a snare drum for me when I was 9 years old.

My entire life has been guided by drumming and percussion - my best friends, my wife, and of course my career. I'm one very lucky guy.

So, for buying me those drum sticks and my first snare, and for putting up with the loud sounds of drumming in the house for all those years, here's to you, Dad. Rest in Peace.

2007-06-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

New York City Television Program

Yesterday I took part in the TV program that honored the great Arnie Lang. The program is entitled "Open," and it's produced by a cable network called Bronxnet (see previous post). There was a great cast of characters for the show - they had a house band made up of one of my favorite drummers, Terry Silverlight (who is a former student of Arnie's), his brother Barry Miles on keys, and the great Will Lee on bass. [Side Note: I have a couple of LPs from the '70s with Terry and Barry that I still enjoy, I'm glad to know they're still playing!]. Other notables included Bobby Sanabria, Gordon Gotlieb, Victor Rendon, Aldo Mazza and Allan Molnar. Allan also ended up being the associate producer of the program, with all the technical demands of the program.

Arnie was his usual humble, gracious self. I was brought in "via satellite" (well, actually, via video conference using Mac's ichat software), as was Aldo. It was a lot of fun to talk about how influential Arnie has been to the percussion world in general and also to me personally. Arnie will be a faculty member at KOSA this summer, as will I, and I'm really looking forward to hanging out with him.

2007-05-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

Recent Invitations

I've accepted two invitations for appearances recently. The first will be on June 6. In New York, in the Bronx, is a cable network called Bronxnet. They'll be presenting a program that honors New York Philharmonic emeritus percussionist Arnie Lang. Arnie is also a Hall of Fame member of the Percussive Arts Society, so I'll be representing PAS at the event.

The other invitation is to be a member of a panel discussion at PASIC in November. The PAS Education Committee is hosting a panel discussion entitled "Building a Powerhouse Percussion Program." I am so honored and humbled that the members of the committee have asked me to be part of the panel. Of course I'm very proud of what we've been able to accomplish here at Northern Illinois University, and it's really special to be recognized this way for the fun we've had building and maintaining our program.

2007-04-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

END OF AN ERA FOR PAS

Yesterday was the final day for the Percussive Arts Society to occupy our headquarters and conduct business in Lawton, Oklahoma. PAS has opened its headquarters in temporary space in the Symphony Center building in Indianapolis while our permanent home in Indianapolis is being designed and built (we should be able to move into the new, permanent space in about one year).

The city of Lawton has been very good to PAS, and in particular Jim Lambert, the percussion professor at Cameron University there in Lawton, was the driving force in getting PAS to move to Lawton in the late 1980's. I also need to mention the strong support of the McMahon Foundation, especially Dr. Charles Graybill and his lovely wife Betty. Their support enabled the society to grow from about 3500 members to the nearly 9500 we have today.

Moving to Indianapolis will enable PAS to attain the next several levels in terms of programming, national and international impact and awareness. We already have forged several partnerships and potential partnerships with strong arts organizations in Indy and have plans to forge many more.

PAS has had a number of great staff members in Lawton, and I thank each and every one of them for their dedication and expertise.

2007-04-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

Steve Reich's Drumming

I just got home from a concert that included Steve Reich's amazing work Drumming. Tonight was the spring concert of the Northern Illinois University Percussion Ensemble. I haven't been a director of the ensemble for more than 6 years, and this semester my colleague and good friend Greg Beyer was solely in charge of the ensemble (my other colleague and good friend Robert Chappell is on sabbatical).

The concert began with Nigel Westlake's Omphalo Centric Lecture, one of my favorite percussion ensemble pieces, and based on how many performances it's getting, clearly a favorite piece of many people. But the spotlight tonight was on the music of Steve Reich, and second on the program was Music for Pieces of Wood. The only thing is, it was performed on 5 berimbaus instead of 5 tuned pieces of wood - and it was awesome that way!

Greg proceeded to explain a great deal about Reich's music including an audio and video presentation, as well as a demonstration of the phasing that's a large part of Drumming.

Just before the beginning of the piece, Greg explained how tonight's performance was in memory of the students who lost their lives in the horrible shootings at Virginia Tech University yesterday, and further explained how Drumming is all about community and how each and every one of us, performers and audience alike, are included in the community and we will all experience Drumming together as one. It was a very touching and special moment.

Then Drumming began, and for just about 80 minutes of non-stop music the audience was totally transfixed. The Percussion Ensemble performed brilliantly, and it was clear that the audience was completely into the experience. I'm on a high right now, having heard the piece in its entirety played so wonderfully by our students. My hat's off to Greg and the students - what an incredible amount of work and dedication to put it together, and a huge Thank You to Greg for giving our students and our audience members the experience. Wow.

2007-04-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

Back From DigitalNow in Orlando

I got back from DigitalNow last night, held at the Disney Yacht and Beach Club Convention Center in Orlando. It was a great 2 1/2 days - being able to spend time with Michael Kenyon and Gary Cook regarding Percussive Arts Society business is always terrific, and we heard and learned from several very good to great speakers and presenters.

The theme of this year's conference was Web 2.0 (check out Tim O'Reilly's writings to learn more about Web 2.0). My favorite speakers of the conference were Susan Scott of the business consulting firm Fierce, and Stephen M.R. Covey of FranklinCovey and CoveyLink.

Hearing and seeing so much about Web 2.0 not only confirmed that PAS is doing a great deal more than other music societies, but also demonstrated that there is more that we can be doing, and we plan on doing as much as possible with the web for our members and visitors. It was a great trip overall.

2007-04-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

Off to Orlando

I leave tomorrow morning to attend the DigitalNow conference. It's about leadership in the digital age. This will be the third time I've attended this conference, and the other 2 were very, very good. It's at Disney World, and the attendees get treated pretty well. I'll be going because of Percussive Arts Society business, and Michael Kenyon and Gary Cook will be going, too.

2007-03-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

Report on National Percussion Ensemble Festival

I'm back home from the National Percussion Ensemble Festival in Indianapolis, which is organized by Music For All (see my previous post).

We heard 8 ensembles from several states, and they all played anywhere from very well to truly outstanding. It's a nice format - each group has a one hour time slot, they're supposed to perform a concert for 40 minutes (although several groups played for much longer than that which backs the whole thing up), and the next 20 minutes is supposed to be a combination of get the first group off the stage while the next group gets set up on the stage. Once a group leaves the stage, they go to another room for a 30-minute clinic from one of the evaluators. There are no scores - it is not a competition. The groups do compete to get to the festival (via recordings submitted earlier), but the event itself is meant to be educational.

This all takes place while the National Concert Band Festival, the Orchestral America Festival, the Honor Band of America, the Honor Orchestra of America, and JazzBand America are taking place, so all in all there were something like 38 performing groups in Indianapolis the past 3 days (2600 students).

In addition to having a great time hanging out with Bill Cahn, Don Liuzzi, and John Wooton, I got to see some other folks with whom it was great to share some time. Gene Corporon of the University of North Texas was there, he conducted the Greeley Philharmonic when I played timpani in that orchestra in 1982. And my Wind Ensemble director from SUNY Potsdam (of 30 years ago!), Tony Maiello, was there, and it was really great to hang some with him, too. He's now at George Mason University and has really made a name for himself as a band and orchestra director, and rightfully so - he's terrific.

All in all, the event was a class act and it ran quite smoothly. Bill Galvin is responsible for running the percussion ensemble festival, and he's to be congratulated - he did an awesome job.

2007-03-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

National Percussion Ensemble Festival

I'm off to Indy again first thing in the morning. I'm one of the judges for this year's National Percussion Ensemble Festival, sponsored by Music for All (this used to be Bands of America, now Bands of America is a subsidiary of sorts of Music for All).

The other judges are Bill Cahn, of Nexus fame, Don Liuzzi, the timpanist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and John Wooten, professor of percussion at the University of Southern Mississippi. We'll hear 8 ensembles from across the country and have a chance to clinic them, too.

Stay tuned for a report after my return!

2007-02-25T20:21:00.000-08:00

KOSA Festival this coming August

I recently accepted an invitation to be part of the faculty for this year's KOSA percussion festival in August. KOSA is in its 12th year, and will be held on the campus of Johnson State College in Vermont August 6-12. Check out their website, particularly the list of faculty - a pretty amazing assortment of percussion and drumming greats. I'll be there for the opening concert on the 6th, and I'll teach 4 classes on the 7th and 8th. I'm sure it will be a great week for the students as well as the faculty - the concerts are sure to be amazing with that list of faculty!

2007-02-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

DRUM CIRCLES

Today my two sons and I facilitated 2 drum circles for the participants of the DeKalb County 4-H clubs at their annual "Super Saturday" event. I hadn't done that for younger students (ages 8 to 12) in probably 7 or 8 years! It was a lot of fun to watch these children -- about 1/2 of whom said they had no prior drumming experience -- just having fun and paying attention and getting into the circle and rhythmic games we did.

And, it was the first time I did a gig with my sons! That was really great, watching them as both participants and leaders in the circles, a really proud and fun moment for me. They already said they're looking forward to doing it again next year!

If you've never participated in a drum circle, don't be shy! It's not really about the drumming, it's more about being a participant in a group/team activity, and there have been several studies conducted which demonstrate the health benefits of drumming. You can check out some resources online:

The great percussionist Kalani has a great deal of drum circle experience and some excellent resources on his site; Arthur Hull is a highly respected drum circle facilitator and "teacher of teachers"; and Bob Bloom has made a very successful career facilitating drum circles in many settings. For some great information about health and drumming, the website of the Remo company has tremendous information.

2007-01-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

Spirituals Festival

Last night I performed in Detroit with Robert Sims at a festival of Negro Spirituals that was organized by and featured the ensembles of Brazeal Dennard. Mr. Dennard is a very kind and obviously very talented musical director who is in his 60th year of choral conducting. In addition to Robert Sims, the well-known spirituals composer, arranger and performer Jacqueline Hairston was there. It was great to get to meet these older-generation musical giants who continue to be so productive.

2007-01-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Service

Today I had a performance with lyric baritone Robert Sims at the Rockefeller Chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago (although it's called a chapel, it's huge, and it's just like a European cathedral). This was the annual memorial service that the University of Chicago hosts, and it's quite an affair. This year's keynote speaker was Julian Bond, the Chairman of the Board of the NAACP. He is an extremely engaging speaker. Besides really digging the music that Robert and I performed, I greatly enjoyed hearing Mr. Bond speak. If you're ever in the vicinity of where he'll be speaking, take the time to go - I believe you'll agree with me.

I just had a gig canceled, I was going to be "beamed in" (my favorite phrase for when I'm doing a video conference) to the NAMM convention in LA later this week. Oh well, there's always next year!

2007-01-12T20:00:00.000-08:00

Great Fun

Last weekend the PAS Executive Committee met for four days, and we accomplished a great deal. There are MANY terrific things on the horizon for PAS. We'll be moving to temporary office space in Indianapolis in early April, and we should have our permanent office, museum and library space built out and ready to move into one year after that. There are many programs we'll be engaging in, too, so the future is very, very bright for PAS and percussion awareness and education.

While in Indy, we were lucky enough to see the Indianapolis Symphony perform. They are an excellent orchestra. After hearing the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on a regular basis for nearly 25 years, I was not sure what to expect. But the ISO is terrific, it was a real joy to hear them perform live.

We also were able to go to the Indianapolis Colts' playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs. It was fantastic! The Colts looked great on both offense and defense. If they can play the way they played last weekend throughout the playoffs, they will be very hard to beat. Of course, I'm a Chicago Bears' fan, but I also just love the game, so it was easy to cheer for the Colts. Now we have to get the Bears to dispense with Seattle this coming Sunday and all will be looking good!

2007-01-02T06:41:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I can hardly believe it's 2007. Where do the years go?

I start my new officer position for the Percussive Arts Society as Immediate Past President, a two-year term (after which I will have completed my 8 years as an officer - whew!). Gary Cook of the University of Arizona is the new President, Steve Houghton (Indiana University and well-known performer and author) is the President-elect, Lisa Rogers of Texas Tech University is the Vice President, Steve Beck of Pro-Mark is the Treasurer, John R. Beck (no relation) is the Secretary, and Michael Kenyon is the Executive Director. Together we comprise the PAS Executive Committee. Our first meetings as a committee are for 4 days later this week in Indianapolis. There is much exciting work going on with PAS, so I'm really looking forward to these next two years and what we'll be able to accomplish.

I have some performances coming up with the awesome lyric baritone Robert Sims. Robert specializes in spirituals, and for the past couple of years we've been collaborating and performing around the country. On January 15 we're performing at a celebration of Martin Luther King's life at the Rockefeller Chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago, and on January 26 we'll be performing in Detroit.

2006-12-31T16:05:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER 31, 2006

First, I hope you have a fun and safe New Year's Eve.

Today marks the final day of my two-year presidency of the Percussive Arts Society. It's been an absolutely phenomenal experience, one I know that I will cherish the rest of my life. I'm indebted to the other officers of PAS during my presidency (Michael Balter, Gary Cook, Mark Ford, Steve Houghton, Michael Kenyon, and Lisa Rogers) as well as the PAS staff and Board of Directors. Thank you all for making my presidency so rewarding for me!

More to come soon....

2006-12-08T09:14:00.000-08:00