Michael Rosen Earns Lifetime Honor From Percussive Arts Society

Oberlin Professor of Percussion Michael Rosen was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award in Education for 2014 by the Percussive Arts Society.

Established in 2002, the award recognizes the contributions of preeminent leaders in percussion education. According to the society, “nominees must have demonstrated the highest ideals and professional integrity in percussion education and pedagogy with a significant history of exceptional or innovative teaching practices.”

Rosen was one of two recipients of the 2014 award, which was presented at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, held in Indianapolis in November.

“I am so grateful to all the students I have had for teaching me and for giving me the honor of allowing me to pass on to them my knowledge and experience,” Rosen said in Indianapolis.

“I came to Oberlin with every intention of having a place where I could practice and prepare for my next audition. To my delight, I realized that I had actually found my calling and that teaching was my future.”

A member of the Oberlin faculty since 1972, Rosen was principal percussionist of the Milwaukee Symphony from 1966 to 1972, and he has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, among others. Rosen serves as director of Oberlin’s Division of Woodwinds, Brass, and Percussion. In addition to teaching, he conducts the Oberlin Percussion Group and directs the Oberlin Percussion Institute, a summer program open to musicians of high school age and older.

Rosen is a columnist and editor for Percussive Notes magazine and has served PAS for many years as a clinician and board member. He is a graduate of Temple University and the University of Illinois Urbana.

With membership numbering more than 7,000, the Percussive Arts Society is a music service organization promoting percussion education, research, performance, and appreciation throughout the world. It was established in 1961 and consists of 78 chapters across the United States and abroad.