The IU Jacobs School of Music has a long history of excellence, featuring a world-class performance faculty comprised of soloists, orchestra members, chamber musicians and jazz artists.
The faculty also boasts music scholars, award-winning composers, NEA recipients, Pulitzer Prize winners and Jazz Masters. In addition to studying with a world-class percussion faculty, our percussion students enjoy a variety of performance opportunities including symphony (5), opera, and ballet orchestras: concert (3) and marching bands; percussion, steel pan and hand drumming ensembles; jazz big bands and combos.
Students in the BM, BME, MM, and DM programs are trained in virtually every aspect of percussion performance including: orchestral percussion, timpani, solo marimba, chamber percussion, drum set, jazz vibes and world percussion. Percussion majors working toward the BM or MM in Jazz Studies focus on and perfect their drum set and jazz mallet skills and are also exposed to a variety of other areas in percussion. All percussion majors study with a full-time professor.
The IU percussion studio eventually rotates through all of the professors, thus covering all of the above areas. Music education is at the core of everything we do as a department, thereby preparing the students to teach as well. The percussion department faculty studios, graduate assistant offices, and dedicated percussion practice rooms now reside in the East Studio Building. This new facility provides technologically and acoustically superior teaching and practice facilities to rival any music school or conservatory in the world.
I hope that our blog will provide you with a glimpse into the exciting world of IU percussion. Please take a moment to get to know the faculty and everything we have to offer. I would also encourage you to check out the IU JSoM Percussion YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwmWsPEtjQ0dn-mv4HFeDHA for recent percussion performances. Free podcasts of recent IU Jacobs School ofMusic performances may be found at:
https://iumusiclive.music.indiana.edu
Please feel free to contact me at jgramley@iu.edu if you are in need of any further information. Better yet, come and visit us on campus and see us in action!
Joseph Gramley, Percussion Department Chair