The programs of study for percussion majors are designed to develop performers with strong fundamental skills and sophisticated musicianship, who can apply these skills to any musical setting: orchestral, solo, chamber, commercial, or nontraditional. Students will achieve a high degree of professional competence and learn appropriate stylistic approaches to the literature of various historical periods.

Lessons

During their years at MSM, students in the percussion department will have the opportunity to receive private lessons with most or all of the teaching faculty. Each student is assigned a primary teacher, who will oversee their studies. Students receive weekly private lessons with a variety of teachers. The plan is worked out each semester between the student and the primary teacher.

Lamb Seminar

As part of their private-lesson program, all students will participate in these seminars. These are small group sessions taught by Chris Lamb. Level I, Percussion Skills and Concepts, is for freshman, sophomores, and first-semester graduate students. Level II, Orchestral Repertoire Seminar, is for juniors, seniors, and grad students. Level I will focus on physical movement that allows the percussionist the freedom to continually absorb new techniques required for the growing number of percussion instruments. Emphasis on how technique affects tone production will be made, and speed and control will begin to be observed. In Level II, application of the fundamentals of technique, touch, and tone production will be made to specific orchestral repertoire for all instruments, always keeping in mind the musical directives of the composer. Both classes will include a packet of material designed to guide the student in practicing the topics and ideas presented in the classes.

Lab Class

This is a weekly class for the entire department, taught by all of the faculty. It is a full-spectrum approach to percussion performance and practice through sectionals, orchestral repertoire sessions for percussion and timpani, Western and non- Western instrument workshops, and lecture/demonstrations by visiting artists. Instrument maintenance as well as stick construction and mallet wrapping will also be discussed. Students are expected to perform regularly in class either in master classes, workshops, or solo performance settings.

A number of the lab classes are devoted to the Marimba Project. These are performance-oriented classes led by She-e Wu, where students have the opportunity to play solo and small ensemble repertoire for their peers, culminating in a spring concert in which all students perform.

Master Classes

Recent master classes by visiting artists have included, among others:

• Cyro Baptista (Brazilian)
• Samir Chatterjee (Indian)
• David Cossin (class of 1994, solo percussion)
• Marc Damoulakis (class of 1999, Cleveland Orchestra)
• Stefon Harris (class of 1995, vibraphone)
• David Herbert (San Francisco Symphony)
• Doug Howard (Dallas Symphony), Momoko Kamiya (marimba)
• Vadim Karpinos (class of 2000, Chicago Symphony)
• Anton Mittermayr (Vienna Philharmonic)
• Rolando Morales-Matos (Afro-Cuban)
• Rainer Seegers (Berlin Philharmonic)
• Mayumi Sekizawa (class of 1999, marimba)
• Glen Velez (class of 1974, frame drums)
• Nancy Zeltsman (marimba)

Percussion Ensemble

The Manhattan Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Jeffrey Milarsky, is designed to help bridge the gap between school and professional life, with special emphasis on achieving a high level of playing ability and concentration, artistic satisfaction, and kinetic opportunities. Concerts include masterpieces from the repertoire (Cage, Varèse, Boulez, Stravinsky, etc.) as well as new works by young composers. A wide variety of styles are programmed including minimal music (Reich, Glass, etc.), 12-tone music (Carter, Babbitt, etc.), spatial music (Cage, Foss, etc.), tonal music, and improvisation.

Performance Opportunities

All students in the percussion department perform with the Manhattan School orchestras. Placement is determined by auditions at the beginning of each semester. All students also perform with the Manhattan Percussion Ensemble. In addition, there are opportunities to perform with the Manhattan contemporary ensembles, the jazz department’s ensembles (including the Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra), mixed chamber ensembles, solo recitals, composers’ concerts, and various ad hoc orchestras and other ensembles.

Alumni

For a list of what some of our graduates are doing now, click here. (Coming soon!)

Other Departments

Percussionists in the Orchestral Performance program participate in the full range of the Percussion Department program. For information on this program, click here.

For information on the Contemporary Performance Program, click here.

For information about the Jazz Arts Program, click here.

Department Handbook

Courses

The degree sequence plans for this major, which will show you what courses and numbers of credits are required for graduation, are found by clicking the link below:

Admission

General admission information regarding taped auditions, audition fees, required materials, and applications can be found by visiting our Audition Procedures Page.

Specific audition requirements for this major can be found by clicking the link below: