Institute Faculty
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Michael
Rosen, Director, is as at home with symphonic literature as he is with contemporary
music, having served as Principal Percussionist with the Milwaukee Symphony
from 1966 to 1972. He has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra as well
as the Grand Teton Music Festival. He is Professor of Percussion at Oberlin
Conservatory of Music where he teaches, conducts the Oberlin Percussion
Group and is director of the Oberlin Percussion Institute. A native of
Philadelphia, Mr. Rosen was a student of Charles Owen and received his
Masters' of Music from the University of Illinois. Rosen has concertized
and taught extensively in Europe, at the Jeunesses Musicales Internationale
Summerkurse in Weikersheim, Germany, at the Sweelinck Conservatory in
Amsterdam, Holland and at the Arturo Toscanini Foundation in Parma, Italy.
Other engagements have included concerts and clinics at conservatories
and music courses in Italy, Denmark, France, Holland, Germany, Finland,
Belgium, Spain, Hong Kong and Beijing, China.
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Tom Freer
A native of Millbrook, New York, Tom attended the Cleveland Institute of Music where he was accepted as Cloyd Duff’s last student before retiring. In 1987 Tom headed to Norrkoping Sweden, to become principal percussionist and assistant timpanist of the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra. After one year there Tom became principal timpanist for the Fort Wayne Philharmonic for two seasons and then principal timpanist of the Alabama Symphony in Birmingham for two seasons. He then settled in with the Cleveland Orchestra as assistant principal timpanist and section percussionist, where he has remained since 1991. He’s a frequent clinician and guest artist and is Coordinator of Timpani and Percussion studies at Cleveland State University. Tom can be heard on over twenty recordings with the Cleveland Orchestra on the London/Decca and Deutsche Grammophon labels. An active instrument collector and designer, Tom holds two patents on snare drum designs and is a design consultant to Pearl/Adams as well as the owner of Freer Percussion Products manufactured by Pro Mark Corporation. Tom is sponsored by Pearl, Adams, Zildjian, Evans and Pro Mark.
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Al
Otte came to the University of Cincinnati in 1977 with the
Blackearth Percussion Group which he co-founded in 1972; in 1979
he founded Percussion
Group Cincinnati. The three members of the Group are faculty and ensemble-in-residence
at the conservatory with an international touring schedule of concerts,
concerto appearances, masterclasses, and childrens programs. A large
body of new and often experimental music has been created specifically
for the Group throughout its history, which has included special relationships
with John Cage, Herbert Brun, John Luther Adams, and Qu Xiao-song. Otte
is professor of percussion, teaches eurhythmics, composition, various
literature seminars, and coaches and conducts traditional and contemporary
chamber music. He is a regular summer faculty member at Oberlin where
he has also done a course in traditional and creative music for Javanese
gamelan. With and without the Group he has concertized, recorded and
taught throughout North America, Europe, and in Asia, including solo
concerts and guest presentations in Shanghai, Saarbrucken, Aukland, and
at Tanglewood. As both percussionist and composer he works with soprano
Audrey Luna, poet Don Bogen, German composer/instrument builder Volker
Staub, and in computer music with Mara Helmuth; he has also worked in
Lucca, Italy with opera director Malcolm Fraser creating experimental
music theater pieces. The evening-length monodrama CLOTHO for percussionist,
soprano, and computer, based the life of Camille Claudel, was premiered
in 2001; music for Shakespeare’s The Tempest in ‘02. A CD
of 5 collaborative works with Mara Helmuth is available on EMS; Percussion
Group Cincinnati is recorded on Mode and their own label, ars moderno.
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Dr. Larry Snider is Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at The University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. He holds bachelors and masters degrees from Illinois State University and The University of North Texas, respectively, as well as a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in percussion performance from the University of Illinois. Dr. Snider has built a strong Percussion Program whose graduates consistently achieve professional success as performers and educators throughout the world. The program’s most visible and widely acclaimed component is The University of Akron Steel Drum Band, which enables students to gain valuable experience in teaching and playing ethnic music and Latin accessory instruments. Founded in 1980 by Dr. Snider as one of the nation’s first and foremost collegiate panorama-style ensembles, the Steel Drum Band performs locally and throughout the United States. Proceeds from sales of the band’s three CDs benefit a scholarship fund for students studying percussion at The University of Akron. Also widely acclaimed is the program’s percussion ensemble devoted to new and experimental music. Dr. Snider also leads the PATHS program in which students from The University of Akron (UA) teach “at-risk” youngsters how to play steel drums. This innovative program reaches traditionally under-served youngsters, helps UA students gain valuable teaching skills, showcases the community’s musical diversity, and enriches the connection between campus and community. Dr. Snider received the first-ever Outstanding Arts Educator Award presented by the Akron Area Arts Alliance in fall 2001. Dr. Snider has served on the percussion faculty at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and the International Percussion Workshop in Zagan, Poland, and as an adjudicator at the International Marimba Competition in Warsaw, Poland. He is often invited to be the chief international adjudicator for World Steelband Festival competitions in Trinidad and the United States, which draw steel bands from around the world. An accomplished performer, Dr. Snider is Principal Percussionist with the Akron Symphony Orchestra and has served as an adjunct percussionist with the Cleveland Orchestra.
 Earl Yowell is presently associate professor of percussion at the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. He presently serves on the Symphonic Committee of the Percussive Arts Society. Prior to his appointment at Shenandoah, he performed for 19 seasons as the principal timpanist and percussionist of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He toured extensively with the SPCO throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He was a featured soloist with internationally famous percussionist Evelyn Glennie in the SPCO performances of Andrzej Panufnik's "Concertino for Timpani, Percussion and Strings" and was timpani soloist in the Chamber Orchestra's premier performances of Johann Carl Christian Fischer's "Symphony for Eight Obbligato Timpani." He was also a regular performer with the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota where in 2001 he premiered, with cellist Yo Yo Ma, a concert of new chamber music works. Yowell has also played on two Grammy A ward-winning albums: "The Art of Arleen Auger" and Samuel Barber's " Anthony and Cleopatra." He has appeared on Minnesota Public Radio's "Saint Paul Sunday" and "Prairie Home Companion" programs. He has given clinics and master classes at colleges and universities throughout the United States. Yowell also spent several summers playing in the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. He formerly served on the percussion faculty of the University of Minnesota and from 1991 to 2000 he was a member of the percussion faculty at the McPhail Center for the Arts. He holds degrees from Northwestern University and the Cleveland Institute of Music. His principal teachers include Cloyd Duff, and Richard Weiner, (Cleveland Orchestra), Terry Applebaum and Glenn Steele, (Northwestern University.)
Guest Performers
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Percussion Group Cincinnati was founded in 1979 and consists of members Allen Otte, James Culley, and Russell Burge, all of whom are faculty members and ensemble-in-residence at the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati. Their daily rehearsal schedule is supplemented with the teaching and coaching of young musicians, many of whom have gone on to professional careers in creative music, in teaching, and with major symphony orchestras. Appearances in their national and international touring schedule have included the major cities, festivals, concert halls and schools of America, Europe and Asia. In addition to community concerts, workshops, and masterclasses, the Group regularly appears as concerto soloists with symphony orchestras, and has presented their program "Music From Scratch" to hundreds of thousands of children across North America. Percussion Group Cincinnati is particularly respected for its knowledge of and experience with the entire range of the music of John Cage, having made tours and festival appearances with him on a number of occasions in Europe and in America, and having had pieces created by Cage especially for the Group. More recently, the Group has developed similar special relationships with John Luther Adams, Qu Xiao-Song, Russell Peck, and with Larry Austin on the Charles Ives Universe Symphony project. Recent performances include the Shanghai Inter- national Spring Music Festival, a tour of Japan, and the premiers of two new concertos for the group, in Hong Kong and in Singapore. Over the past 25 years, many young composers from the United States, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia have created a large body of new and often experimental music for the unique talents of Percussion Group Cincinnati. The group's work appears on various CDs, including their own ars moderno label; their recording of John Luther Adams’ evening-length “Strange and Sacred Noise” was released in surround-sound by Mode this year; they are currently at work on CD’s of the percussion music of Qu Xiao-Song, on their contribution to the series of Mode Records’ integrated set of the complete music of John Cage, and on a 25-year retrospective multi-disc set including performances from the group’s entire history.
James Culley was born in Hamilton, Ohio. His degrees include the bachelor's degree from Oberlin Conservatory, a Bachelor of Arts degree in classics from Oberlin and a master's degree from the Eastman School of Music.
Russell Burge, a native of Boulder, Colorado, received his bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music and his master's degree from CCM in Cincinnati. He was formerly principal percussionist of the West Virginia Symphony and timpanist with the Columbus Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra.
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Bonnie Whiting Smith's mission is to explore the flexible boundaries between music and other disciplines. In addition to performing diverse works for percussion, she commissions new music, integrates text and movement into performance, plays turntable, and composes. A committed performer/educator, Bonnie spent three years working as the percussionist with Tales & Scales, a not-for-profit national touring ensemble. This quartet integrates original contemporary chamber music, modern dance, and theater for children and family audiences. During her tenure, she gave over 400 performances in 25 states. T&S also collaborated with orchestras all over the country; memorable performances were with the Dallas, Oregon, Indianapolis, Buffalo, and Louisville symphony orchestras. Bonnie has played everywhere from performing arts centers, such as the Kravis Center, the New Jersey PAC, and the Orange County PAC, to school gymnasiums, and even a sheep barn. Out of this group, the ensemble Asterisk was born. Asterisk creates performances for general audiences that combine musical virtuosity and a signature interdisciplinary approach. Through a daring repertoire of solo and chamber works ranging from intimate to expansive, meditative to slapstick, and profound to quirky, the group makes new connections to other artistic disciplines and to their audiences. Like most classically-trained performers, Bonnie spent a lot of time in school, attending Oberlin Conservatory, Interlochen Arts Academy, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Her interest in other disciplines also lead her to pursue studies and coachings in dance and theater. Bonnie currently works as a freelance percussionist/arts educator in the Seattle area. She has performed with ensembles such as the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Percussion Collective and she serves on the faculty of the Seattle Conservatory of Music. A Michigan native recently transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, Bonnie spends much of her non-percussive time in the great outdoors running long distances and hiking. You might also find her reading new American fiction and consuming vast quantities of food with her stage director husband, Ben.
www.bonniewhitingsmith.com |
