Baljinder Sekhon’s Places and Times

Baljinder Sekhon’s Places and Time...

In 2014, I put together a consortium for solo steel pan and percussion ensemble. I had always wanted to work with Baljinder Sekhon after hearing and performing his music with my percussion ensemble. Passageways is written for solo steel pan (tenor – Low C) and 5 percussionists. The steel pan player uses chop sticks, mallets and extended techniques of the side of the pan to add to the complex texture of the piece. After the consortium, Baljinder arranged a recording project and I recorded Passageways with the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet. On April 27, 2018, Innova...
Content Marketing Institute University 2016

Content Marketing Institute University 2...

Since joining Yamaha as the Percussion Product Manager in 2014, I have been on a path to improve my knowledge of business and marketing. I just completed a great online training program offered by the Content Marketing Institute. The training session was taught by Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose. The 12 modules are supplemented with books, handouts and videos. This was an excellent training session and I am looking forward to reading Joe Pulizzi’s Epic Content Marketing.
Enkor International Music Competition 2016

Enkor International Music Competition 20...

Last year, I had the honor of judging the Enkor International Music Competition. The jury is made up of 500+ members from 70+ countries on 6 continents. I was selected to judge the 2016 ENKOR Int’l Percussion Competition and I will be judging chamber music in 2017.
Passageways by Baljinder Sekhon

Passageways by Baljinder Sekhon

Thank you to everyone who participated in the commission project. Here’s the list of participants: Andy Akiho, David Beery, Mark Berry, Ron Brough, Sean Connors, Stan Dahl, Elizabeth Delamater, Amanda Duncan, Matt Ehlers, Ricardo Flores, Dave Gabrielson, Adam Groh, Ian Grzyb, David Hall, Greg Haynes, Scott Herring, David Johnson, John Kilkenny, Jason Koontz, John Lawless, Bob Ledbetter, Ryan Lewis, Dave Longfellow, Colin Malloy, Robert McCormick, Tony McCutchen, CJ Menge, Brad Meyer, William Moersch, Oliver Molina, Eugene Novotney, Michael Overman, Louis...
Passageways at University of Kentucky

Passageways at University of Kentucky

On April 10, 2016, I had the opportunity to perform Baljinder Sekhon’s Passageways with the University of Kentucky Percussion Ensemble, conducted by Matthew Geiger. James Campbell has been the director of percussion at UK for over 30 years and it was an honor to perform with his ensemble. During my residency, I also presented my lecturer called “The 21st Century Percussion: Today, Tomorrow and the...
VIVA 21ST CENTURY – Harmonic Canon Streams

VIVA 21ST CENTURY – Harmonic Canon...

On Saturday, December 27, 2014, I was featured on WPRB 103.3 FM (New Jersey) on Marvin Rosen’s Classical Discoveries VIVA 21ST CENTURY. I performed Steve Kornicki’s Harmonic Canon Streams (2006). Listen here: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/202589408″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Click Here for more information about composer Steve...
Yamaha Appoints New Product Manager

Yamaha Appoints New Product Manager

On December 15, 2014, I began my tenure with the Yamaha Corporation of America as the Product Manager of Percussion. You can read the announcement here. This has been a new transition for me. Previously, I taught at CSULB in the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music as the Director of Percussion Studies. I applied for the job last year and didn’t get it. I plan on writing more about this transition in the future. Thanks for your continued support.
University Percussion Group wins Competition

University Percussion Group wins Competi...

On May 2, 2014 the BCCM/CSULB University Percussion Group won the 2014 California Percussive Arts Society College Percussion Ensemble Competition. This is the second year in a row that they have won the competition. The ensemble performed Sun by Baljinder Sekhon and Quad Helix by Clay Condon (PAS California Ensemble Program) and was awarded a new Yamaha Grand Symphonic Series Maple Snare Drum for placing first. Thank you Yamaha Percussion! The group competed against 4 other colleges, including Chapman University, San Jose State, Fresno State and San Joaquin College....
Faculty Artist Recital – Friday, January 31

Faculty Artist Recital – Friday, J...

My upcoming Faculty Artist Series at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music @ CSULB will be presented on Friday, January 31, 2014 at 8pm in the Gerald R. Daniel Recital Hall. I have decided to perform the first half of the concert without a break. (More about that in a separate post on programming). The program will be: Red Arc/Blue Veil – John Luther Adams A Minute of News – Eugene Novotney A New Collaborative Piece with Martin Herman Pitch Drop – Dave Gerhart Warm It Up – Tom Osborne Kembang Suling – Gareth Farr Concerto for Marimba –...
New Release: Tempo Distortion #4 – Single

New Release: Tempo Distortion #4 –...

I am proud to announce that I have a new single that was released on iTunes and CDBaby. The piece is called Tempo Distortion #4 and was written by my friend and composer Steve Kornicki. Tempo Distortion #4 is a conceptual study in simultaneously occurring patterns in different tempi for solo marimba and pre-recorded and processed marimba sounds. Check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks for your continued support.