Christoph Sietzen (Austria / Luxembourg)

"he took up position at a marimba and coaxed from it sounds of rapturous fragility.” (Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, New York Times)

...this most questing of younger percussionists.“ (Richard Whitehouse, Grammophone)

Christoph Sietzen has been praised by the media as an outstanding talent – a refreshingly natural musician noted for his technical mastery and powerful stage presence. He gave his debut at the Salzburg Festival at the age of 12 and was a prizewinner at the prestigious ARD International Music Competition in 2014. In 2018, he was awarded the ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) Young Artist Award and the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) named him a Rising Star for the 2017/18 season. Furthermore, Christoph received an OPUS KLASSIK for Newcomer of the Year 2019.

Christoph regularly performs at prestigious venues such as Vienna's Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Salzburg's Great Festival Hall and Mozarteum, Romanian Atheneum in Bucharest, Philharmonie Luxembourg, London's Barbican Centre, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Berlin's Konzerthaus, Cologne's Philharmonie, M,üpa Budapest Gulbenkian Foundation Lisbon, Palau de la Música Barcelona, Stockholm Konserthuset, Bozar Brussels, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Suntory Hall in Tokyo as well as at festivals like Salzburg or Grafenegg.

His orchestral collaborations include the Bavarian, Austrian and Polish Radio Symphony Orchestras, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg as well as the Academy of Ancient Music with conductors like Ilan Volkov, Marin Alsop, Howard Griffiths, Yutaka Sado, Frank Strobel, Alexander Liebreich or Cristian Mandeal. As an active chamber musician he works with musicians like Tabea Zimmermann, Clemens Hagen, Peter Sadlo, Christian Schmitt, Maurice Steger, Maximilian Hornung, the multi-instrumentalist Hubert von Goisern as well as actors like Dörte Lyssewski and Karl Markovics.

Committed to expanding the existing percussion repertoire, Christoph's projects include new works by Georg Friedrich Haas, Andrea Tarrodi, Helmut Schmidinger, Emmanuel Séjourné, Ivan Boumanns, Jakob Gruchmann, Alexander Mullenbach, Christoph Ehrenfellner, Ingo Ingensand und Alexander Wagendristel as well as Stewart Copeland (formerly of the rock band 'The Police'), all of whom have composed for him.

Furthermore he is member of the marimba ensemble „The Wave Quartet“, founded by Bogdan Bacanu in 2008 and initiated the percussion ensemble „Motus Percussion“.

Christoph's 2017 solo album 'Attraction' received the Pizzicato Supersonic Award, describing the recording as "a stupendous solo performance in every respect”. His first concerto recording featuring concerti by Avner Dorman and Einojuhani Rautaavara was followed by his most recent album „Silence", released by Sony Classical in September 2019 covering solo repertoire as well as collaborations with Clemens Hagen, Bogdan Bacanu and the Academy of Ancient Music. Christoph also has a rich discography with The Wave Quartet.

A citizen of Luxembourg, Christoph was born in Salzburg in 1992. He started learning percussion at the age of six, double bass at the age of eight and later studied at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz with Bogdan Bacanu (Marimba) and Leonhard Schmidinger (percussion) as well as with Josef Gumpinger. He also followed his passion for the harpsichord to particularly focus on Baroque repertoire. From 2014-2019 he has held a teaching position at Vienna"s University for Music and the Performing Arts and from 2020 at his Alma Mater.

Christoph Sietzen plays Adams Musical Instruments. 2021/2022

Ji Hye Jung (South Korea)

Ji Hye Jung is Associate Professor of Percussion at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and principal percussionist with the west coast-based chamber music ensemble Camerata Pacifica. An advocate for new music, she has commissioned works by Kevin Puts, Emma O’Halloran, Annika Scolofsky, Bora Yoon, Molly Herron, Christopher Theofanidis, Alehandro Viñao, Lukas Ligeti, Paul Lansky, Jason Treuting, Michael Torke, David Bruce, Huang Ruo, and John Serry.

Ms. Jung garnered consecutive first prizes at the 2006 Linz International Marimba Competition and the 2007 Yale Gordon Concerto Competition while completing a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. As an artist endorser, she proudly represents Pearl/Adams instruments, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, and Zildjian cymbals. Ji Hye Jung is Associate Professor of Percussion at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and principal percussionist with the west coast-based chamber music ensemble Camerata Pacifica. An advocate for new music, she has commissioned works by Kevin Puts, Emma O’Halloran, Annika Scolofsky, Bora Yoon, Molly Herron, Christopher Theofanidis, Alehandro Viñao, Lukas Ligeti, Paul Lansky, Jason Treuting, Michael Torke, David Bruce, Huang Ruo, and John Serry.

Ms. Jung garnered consecutive first prizes at the 2006 Linz International Marimba Competition and the 2007 Yale Gordon Concerto Competition while completing a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. As an artist endorser, she proudly represents Pearl/Adams instruments, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, and Zildjian cymbals.

Pius Cheung (China / Canada)

Hailed by the New York Times as “deeply expressive” for his groundbreaking recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations on solo marimba, Pius Cheung is widely known as one of the most important percussionists of his generation. He has presented solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, National Concert Hall in Taipei, Kyoto Arts Center (Japan), as well as music festivals around the globe such as the Usedom Music Festival (Germany), Manchester Music Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Taiwan International Percussion Convention, Chiapas International Marimba Festival (Mexico), Drum Fest (Poland), Percussion Plus Festival (Denmark), Italy PAS International Percussion Festival, Osaka Percussion Festival and Shenyang International Percussion Festival (China).

He is one of the most sought-after composers for percussion today. His latest works include Allegro Brutale for solo marimba, commissioned by Dame Evelyn Glennie; Heaven and Earth, Ballet for Percussion Ensemble; and two percussion concertos, Princess Chang Ping and Heaven and Earth (percussion sextet concerto version) for the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra.

Furthermore, Mr. Cheung frequently serves as a judge at national and international competitions, as well as presents masterclasses at renowned institutions such as the Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Amsterdam Conservatory, Paris Conservatory, Toho Gakuen (Japan) and Beijing Central Conservatory.

Mr. Cheung endorses Yamaha, Zildjian, Remo, and Innovative Percussion, which produces his signature mallet series. Mr. Cheung is currently an Associate Professor and Chair of the Percussion Area at the University of Oregon.

Michael Burritt (USA)

Paul J. Burgett Distinguished Professorship, Professor of Percussion, Eastman School of Music Having performed in four continents and more than forty states, Michael Burritt is one of his generation's most accomplished percussionists. He is in frequent demand performing concert tours and master classes throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia and Canada. Mr. Burritt has been soloist with the United States Air Force Band, Dallas Wind Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Nexus, Third Coast Percussion, Ju Percussion Group (Taiwan), Percussion Art Quartet (Germany) and the Amores Percussion Group (Spain). Mr. Burritt has three solo as well as numerous chamber recordings. In 2018 he recorded his Home Trilogy with the world renown percussion group Nexus and is soon to release a new recording of solo and chamber works by Alejandro Viñao with the Grammy Award winning Third Coast Percussion. Burritt just recently premiered Fast Forward, a new chamber concerto written expressly for him by Pulitzer Prize winning Composer Joseph Schwantner.

He has been a featured artist at nine Percussive Arts Society International Conventions. In 1992 he presented his New York solo debut in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and in 1998 performed his London debut in the Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall. Mr. Burritt has extensive chamber and orchestral experience and has performed with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, The Chicago Symphony, Nexus, Third Coast Percussion and The Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra.

Mr. Burritt is also active as a composer, with three concertos to his credit as well as numerous solo and chamber works for marimba and percussion. His works for solo marimba have become standard repertoire for the instrument and are frequently required repertoire on international competitions. Commissions include The World Marimba Competition in Stuttgart Germany, The Paris International Marimba Competition, Nexus and Paris Percussion Group. Zildjian recently commissioned Burritt to compose a work in celebration of the company’s 400-years anniversary in 2023. Mr. Burritt is published with Keyboard Percussion Publications, C. Alan, Masters Music and Innovative Percussion. Burritt is also an artist/clinician and product design/consultant for Malletech, where he has developed his own line of marimba mallets and the MJB Signature Marimba. He is an artist/educational clinician with the Zildjian, Evans, and Yamaha Drums. Mr. Burritt is currently the President of Percussive Arts Society, was a member of the Board of Directors from 1996 – 2008. He was also a contributing editor for Percussive Notes Magazine from 1991 - 2006 and chairman of the PAS Keyboard Committee from 2004 – 2010.

Burritt currently holds the Paul J. Burgett Distinguished Professorship and is Professor of Percussion at The Eastman School of Music where he is only the third person in the history of the school to hold this position. Prior to his appointment at Eastman, Mr. Burritt was Professor of Percussion at Northwestern University from 1995-2008 where he developed a program of international distinction. Mr. Burritt received his Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees, as well as the prestigious Performers Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

Tim Palmer (United Kingdom) - WPG Artistic Director

Tim began his percussion studies at the Birmingham Conservatoire in 2000. He graduated with a 1st class BMus(Hons) and AdvPgdip with Distinction in 2006. Upon leaving the Conservatoire, he was awarded an Honorary Member of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (HonBC).

Tim is widely recognised for his activities as half of the Maraca2 Percussion Duo. Since it’s inception in 2003, the group have toured the globe and have headlined at many of the world's prestigious festivals. In 2006, the group opened and performed the opening ceremony of the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham. They have performed as an evening headline act as part of the PASIC (Percussive Arts Society International Convention) in Indianapolis, 2013 and have visited over 60 universities and conservatoires worldwide.

Maraca2 have recently become active as soloists with orchestras and have just performed their first Percussion Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. They also appeared as soloists with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pascal Rophé in 2019.

Nancy Zeltsman (USA)

Nancy Zeltsman has been a leading marimba specialist for over 40 years. She has premiered over 130 solo/chamber marimba works including compositions by Gunther Schuller, Michael Tilson Thomas, Louis Andriessen, Paul Simon, Carla Bley, and Steven Mackey. She has performed and taught across the U.S. and Europe, and in Japan, China, Mexico, and Brazil.

Nancy formed Marimolin with violinist Sharan Leventhal in 1985. The duo was extremely active for its first 11 years and has performed occasionally since 2015. Zeltsman released several CDs as a soloist and with Marimolin and others. Recent albums are “American Gifts for Marimba Duo” with Jack Van Geem (Bridge, 2020); and “purple music,” a (mostly-) solo album (self-issued, 2023).

Since 1993, Zeltsman has taught at joint institutions Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and Berklee College of Music. Since 2013, she has been regular guest professor of marimba at Conservatorium van Amsterdam; and a regular Guest Artist at University of Michigan since 2021. Nancy founded and served as Artistic Director of Zeltsman Marimba Festival which was attended by over 600 participants between 2001 and 2018.

Zeltsman was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 2022 (the seventh woman among more than 150 individuals in its 50-year history). Nancy is a Pearl/Adams artist; the Nancy Zeltsman Signature Marimba was released by Adams Musical Instruments in 2021. Her popular line of signature mallets by Encore Mallets is available through Salyers Percussion. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts. More at: nancyzeltsman.com.

Colin Currie (United Kingdom)

Colin Currie Percussion Artist in Association, Southbank Centre, London Artistic Director, Colin Currie Group Artistic Curator, Grafenegg Academy.

Colin Currie is as solo and chamber artist at the peak of his powers. Championing new music at the highest level, he is hailed as being “at the summit of percussion performance today” (Gramophone). Currie is the soloist of choice for many of today’s foremost composers and conductors and he performs with the world’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, London Philharmonic and Minnesota Orchestras.

A dynamic and adventurous soloist, Currie’s commitment to commissioning and creating new music was recognised in 2015 by the Royal Philharmonic Society who awarded him the Instrumentalist Award. From his earliest years Currie forged a pioneering path in creating new music for percussion, winning the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award in 2000 and receiving a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2005. Currie has premiered works by composers such as Steve Reich, Elliott Carter, Louis Andriessen, HK Gruber, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Sir James MacMillan, Brett Dean, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Helen Grime, Jennifer Higdon, Kalevi Aho, Andy Akiho, Rolf Wallin, Kurt Schwertsik, Andrew Norman, Julia Wolfe and Nico Muhly. Looking ahead, in the coming seasons Currie will premiere new works by Bruno Mantovani, Danny Elfman, and Steve Reich.

In October 2017 Currie launched Colin Currie Records, in conjunction with LSO Live, as a platform for recording his diverse projects, celebrating the extraordinary developments for percussion music in recent times. The label's first release was the Colin Currie Group's debut recording, Steve Reich's Drumming, which was hailed as "thunderously exciting" (The Times). In October 2018 Currie released the second disc in this catalogue, The Scene of The Crime, with Håkan Hardenberger, the third release following in April 2019, Colin Currie & Steve Reich Live at Fondation Louis Vuitton, once again featuring the Colin Currie Group.

A major highlight of Currie’s 2020/21 season is the world premiere of Bruno Mantovani’s Percussion Concerto, Allegro Barbaro, with the Tonkünstler Orchestra in June 2021, following the postponement of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France’s premiere last season.

Currie also returns to the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, performs with the Warsaw Philharmonic, National Orchestra of Belgium and Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Katowice and the Colin Currie Quartet make their Lithuanian and Hong Kong debuts.

Currie's dynamic ensemble the Colin Currie Group was formed in 2006 to celebrate the music of Steve Reich and made its five-star debut at the BBC Proms. Since then, with Reich’s personal endorsement Currie and his ensemble have taken on the role of ambassadors of Drumming, which they have performed at many venues and festivals internationally. The Colin Currie Group return to the Royal Festival Hall in April 2021 for an all-Reich programme including Music for 18 Musicians.

Currie is Artist in Association at London's Southbank Centre, where he was the focus of a major percussion festival Metal Wood Skin in 2014 and continues to perform there every season.

Colin Currie plays Zildjian cymbals and is a Marimba One Artist.

Dame Evelyn Glennie (United Kingdom)

Dame Evelyn Glennie is the first person in history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist, performing worldwide with the greatest orchestras, conductors and artists. Growing up on a farm in the north east of Scotland, Evelyn became drawn to percussion as her hearing declined because she could ‘feel the sound’. At the age of 16 she gained a place at The Royal Academy of Music in London where she studied orchestral percussion and piano. She quickly realised that there was a life for percussion outside the orchestra and became determined to define a new genre of solo percussion. Evelyn paved the way for orchestras globally to feature percussion concerti when she played the first percussion concerto in the history of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in 1992.

A leading commissioner of new works, Evelyn has vastly expanded the solo percussion repertoire with more than 200 pieces to her name from many of the world’s most eminent composers. “It’s important that I continue to commission and collaborate with a diverse range of composers whilst recognising the young talent coming through”. Evelyn composes music for film, television, theatre and music library companies and is a double GRAMMY award winner and BAFTA nominee. She regularly provides masterclasses and consultations to inspire the next generation of musicians. ‘Listening is the backbone to every aspect of our lives. The challenges we face in business and at home can usually be overcome with better listening skills.’ The film ‘Touch the Sound’ and her enlightening TED speech remain key testimonies to her innovative approach to sound-creation.

Throughout her career, Evelyn has had the privilege of working with diverse artists from the worlds of pop, jazz, folk, classical and contemporary music. Evelyn’s solo recordings, which now exceed 40 CDs, are as diverse as her career on-stage. These range from original improvisations, collaborations, percussion concerti and ground-breaking modern solo percussion projects.

Leading 1000 drummers, Evelyn had the honour of collaborating with director, Danny Boyle, in her prominent role in the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

“Playing at an event like that was proof that music really affects all of us, connecting us in ways that the spoken word cannot”. In 2018, Evelyn built upon this inter-disciplinary experience by composing the score for Gregory Doran of The Royal Shakespeare Company’s visionary new production of Troilus and Cressida. The Evelyn Glennie Podcast was launched in 2020 featuring popular personalities from the worlds of music, television and academia. The episodes centred around what listening means to different people and its importance in everyday life. Subsequent series are being planned with a wider range of guests.

Evelyn was awarded an OBE in 1993 and has over 100 international awards to date, including the Polar Music Prize and the Companion of Honour. She was recently appointed the first female President of Help Musicians, only the third person to hold the title since Sir Edward Elgar and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Evelyn is the patron of several charities and regularly participates in events to raise money and awareness for organisations such as Great Ormond Street Hospital, Rett UK and Create.

Evelyn is currently curating The Evelyn Glennie Collection. As a keen collector of percussion instruments, Evelyn has gathered a private collection of global instruments, consisting of over 2,000 items. “I realized as soon as my parents bought me my second pair of sticks that I was going to be a collector of something!” The collection also encompasses concert programmes, awards, photos, paintings, letters and scores spanning her remarkable career. Her vision is to open a centre that embodies her mission to Teach the World to Listen. She aims to ‘improve communication and social cohesion by encouraging everyone to discover new ways of listening as proven in her book ‘Listen World!’. We want to inspire, to create, to engage and to empower’. ‘

My career and my life have been about listening in the deepest possible sense. Losing my hearing meant learning how to listen differently, to discover features of sound I hadn’t realized existed. Losing my hearing made me a better listener.’

Evelyn lives in the beautiful countryside of Cambridgeshire in the East of England. 

Emmanuel Séjourné (France)

Emmanuel Séjourné is a musician of international renown who leads a triple career as a composer, percussionist and teacher. His career ranges from classical music to improvised music. He has been awarded prizes for Best Music for Drama at the Festival d’Avignon, the Prix de l’Academie du Disque Français, as well as the Repertoire Prize, awarded by the French Music Publishers, for his composition « Khamsin ». He participates in the CD « the Concert » of the guitarist Friedemann for wich he wins « German Jazz Award Gold ».

His music is rhythmic, romantic, energetic, inspired both by the Western classical tradition and by popular culture (jazz, rock, extra-Européan).

Many orchestras include his music in their repertoire: RadioSinfonieOrchester Stuttgart, Nagoya Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic, Sinfonia Toronto, Croatian Radio Television Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Italienne, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Camerata de Bourgogne, Sofia Soloists, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre d’Auvergne, de Cannes, Nice, Pau, Mulhouse, Bochumer Symphoniker, Wurttembergisches Kammerorchester, Paris Brassband, as numerous additional ensemble.

Acclaimed by members of the percussion community, his works have been commissioned and recorded by many artists including Bogdan Bacanu et Wave Quartet (Genuin Classics 2016), Christoph Sietzen (Genuin Classics 2017) Alexej Gerassimez (Genuin Classics 2012) Gary Cook, Ju-Percussion group, Nancy Zeltsman, Marta Klimasara, Katarzyna Mycka.

His Concertos for percussion are a great success, whether for vibra and strings (1999) as his double-concerto for vibra, marimba & symphonic orchestra played since its creation in 2012 in Bulgaria, then in China, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Brazil, Turkey, Latvia, Korea and France. His concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra, commissioned and performed by Bogdan Bacanu, has since 2005 become an major work of the marimba repertoire, played more than 600 times with orchestra.

Far from being limited to the world of percussion Emmanuel Séjourné also composed many pieces for symphonic orchestra (Ketsana) as well as chamber music (commissioned by the Paris Opera and the Contrastes duet) as well as pieces for choir (commissioned by INECC Europeen Institut for Choir). Fascinated with the relations between various forms of artistic expression, he writes music for theater and television. He composed the music for the Ballet du Rhin’s performance « les envahisseurs », played during the two thousandth anniversary of the city of Strasbourg, and in 2004, he wrote a musical comedy « School Boulevard » commissioned by National Theater Luxembourg.

Simultaneously, Emmanuel Séjourné makes a career as an instrumentalist. As a soloist, as well as with the ensemble Accroche-Note, he has so far premiered over hundred pieces of music (Donatoni, Manoury, Fedele, Hurel…) including concertos, chamber music and solos.

Eager to share and communicate his passion, Emmanuel Séjourné is also Head Teacher of Percussion Department at the Strasbourg Superior Academy of Music & arts and Associate Professor at HEMU Lausanne. His Master Classes are extremely successful all over the world. He is often invited to sit on jurys for numerous international ARD Munich, Geneve, Tromp, Salzburg.?In tribute to his many activities, he is named « DOCTOR HONORIS CAUSA » by the National Academy of Music of Bulgaria.

Kai Strobel (Germany)

Kai Strobel is 1st place winner and recipient of the audience award at the 68th ARD Music Competition 2019 and winner of the 2018 TROMP Percussion Competition in Eindhoven.

As a soloist, he has performed with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, the Asko| Schönberg Orchestra, the Musicum Collegium Basel and the St. Petersburg State Capella Symphony Orchestra, among others.

He is a scholarship recipient of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and the German Music Competition, and an honoree of the Mozarteum International Summer Academy.

He holds a Professorship at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana in Lugano and got appointed International Visiting Tutor at the RNCM Manchester. As a lecturer and soloist, Kai Strobel regularly appears as a guest at music festivals in France, Croatia, the Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, USA, Portugal, Hungary and Germany. Furthermore he established his own Percussion Academy for young students in Stuttgart/ Germany, which had its first turn during the corona pandemic.

Kai received his first lessons from Marta Klimasara in Stuttgart. Since 2012, Kai Strobel has studied percussion at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz under Leonhard Schmidinger and Bogdan Bacanu.

In addition to his solo career, Kai Strobel is looking to explore and expand further the possibilities of using percussion instruments in his chamber music groups, such as the Boum-Percussion Ensemble, for which he also regularly writes music and arrangements. In doing so, he aims to broaden the percussion repertoire with works by great composers. Kai takes inspiration from their ideas as well as from the developments which instruments have undergone. His arrangements of works by Claude Debussy have already been published.

Being endorsed by companies like ADAMS Musical Instruments, Zultan Cymbals and Meinl Percussion, Kai also does research on innovations in percussion instruments.

Eriko Daimo (Japan)

“...the demeanour and virtuosity of soloist Eriko Daimo made this a performance to remember. Watching and hearing the four mallets play slow-moving, long-line, four part harmony was extraordinary....” -The Irish Times

“Highly impressive. The delicate percussionist Eriko Daimo delivered her musical performance brimming with energy and superb dynamics.... The audience was ecstatic in its enthusiasm and would not let her leave the stage without an enchanting encore.” -Volksstimme

Praised for her ‘mesmerizing combination of sound and sight’ (Irish Times), the award-winning marimbist, Eriko Daimo, is one of the leading artists of her field.

Her recent performances include concerto performances with some of the world’s leading orchestras such as the RTE Ireland National Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic in Finland, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Sophia Philharmonic in Bulgaria, Osaka Symphony Orchestra, Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany, Opole Philharmonic Orchestra in Poland, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra and Orchestra Nipponika among others; as well as recital tours over 25 countries in Asia, Europe and the Americas. She has given recitals and masterclasses in some of today’s most recognized percussion festivals, including the Taiwan International Percussion Convention, Italy PAS Percussion Festival, International Marimba Festival in Minneapolis, Internacional de Marimbistas in Mexico, Festival des Journees de la Percussion in Paris, Universal Marimba Festival in Belgium, KOSA International Music Festival in the US, International Percussion festival in Korea, International League of Artists Marimba Festival in Tokyo, Bamberg International Marimba Festival in Germany, and PASIC.

As an educator, she has given concerts and masterclasses at music institutions including the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Paris Conservatory, Royal Irish Academy of Music, Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, San Francisco Conservatory, Colburn Conservatory, Vienna Conservatory, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Institute, among others. Also, she has been presenting a series of masterclasses at New York University since 2013.

She served as a judge for the New York International Percussion Competition(2016, 2018), Percussion Arts Society International Percussion Competition(2011,2012, 2013, 2017), Majaoja Percussion Competition(Finland), Italy PAS Percussion Competition, Latin America Marimba Competition in Mexico, Bamberg International Marimba Competition(Germany), Universal Marimba Competition in Belgium, and International Percussion Competition in Poland.

As a student, she has won top prizes in numerous competitions, including 1st prizes at the International Marimba Competition 2004 in Belgium, Japan International League of Artists Competition, Japan PAS 20th Annual Percussion Solo Competition 2004, and Japan Soloist Music Competition and more.

Born in Kagoshima, Japan, Ms. Daimo began her musical studies at age five on the piano. She started studying the marimba when she entered high school in 1997, and went on to study at the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music and the Boston Conservatory.

Ms. Daimo is an endorser of Marimba One, Zildjian company and Innovative Percussion Inc which produces her signature series mallets. She is on the faculty and Director of Marimba Studies at the New York University Steinhardt and faculty at The Juilliard School pre-college division.

Ivana Bilic (Croatia)

Ivana K. Bilic is an international marimba and percussion artist. She currently teaches at the University of Zagreb - Academy of Music (where she studied with prof. I. Lešnik) and is Head of Department for conducting, percussion and harp and Head of Postgraduate Studies. Ivana’s recent engagements include the one year faculty position (for academic year 2024/25) at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Berklee College of Music and her appointment as Artistic director of the Musical Evenings in St Donatus, an international summer festival set in the historical city of Zadar, Croatia. www.donat-festival.com/en/#about She regularly appears as soloist with European orchestras (Danish Radio Symphony, W. Lutoslawski Philharmonic, Pannon Philharmonic, Slovenian Philharmonic, Dohnany Symphony, Presidential Symphony Orchestra Ankara, Zagreb Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Radiotv…) and on international festivals (Music Biennale Zagreb, Musicora Paris, Tempus Fugit Tel Aviv, Melos Ethos Bratislava, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Split Summer Festival, Julian Rachlin and Friends…).

Her concert activities include recitals, crossover projects, stage productions, cd recording sessions, appearances at live tv shows and cooperations with artists and ensembles in Europe, USA, China and South America, in halls such as the Merkin Hall in New York, Palacio de las Bellas Artes in Mexico City and Franz Liszt Hall in Budapest. Ivana regularly gives marimba clinics and masterclasses (Manhattan school of Music; Boston Conservatory; Conservatorium van Amsterdam; Stuttgart Hochschule für Musik; Anton Bruckner Universität Linz; Conservatoire de Paris and Lyon; Wuhan, Dalian, Shenyang and Beijing Universities; Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester; Birmingham Conservatory; Salzburg Sommerakademie; Franz Liszt Academy Budapest etc), serves as jury member at international competitions ( Linz, Salzburg, Stuttgart and Paris Marimba Competitions, August Everding Competition Munich, Timisoara Percussion Competition, Beijing Percussion Competition, etc) and participates in percussion and marimba festivals in USA, China, South America and Europe (Tomarimbando, Portugal; Shenyang Percussion Festival; KALIMA; Tenerife Percussion Festival; Amsterdam Marimba Weekend; Santa Fe Marimba Festival; Marimba International Festival and Conference in Minneapolis; several ZMF and PASIC editions; Belgium Marimba Competition and Festival; Festival de marimbistas, Chiapas, Mexico and many others).

She has been the founding member of several chamber ensembles: The I.N.K. Experiment Duo (since 2014) with Nikola Krbanyevitch. The duo has appeared at festivals in Europe, USA and Asia and took part in several interdisciplinary projects involving theater, dance and visual arts. In 2020 they have won the discographic award Porin for best instrumental with jazz rock group Chui. Their latest album – Collage I has been released for the Nota Bene label. www.theinkexperimentduo.com The Percussion Club (2021), the percussion quartet that was featured at the opening of Dubrovnik Summer Festival and has extensively toured Croatia ever since. They have perfomed a showcase concert at Pasic 2023 in Indianapolis. An avid promotor of contemporary creation, she collaborates with the festival "Musical Platform" organised by the Croatian Composers’ Society, holding workshops for contemporary music, creating original projects and performing with Synchronos ensemble and Synchroform. Ivana is a commissioned author and arranger, her pieces are published by Edition Svitzer, Inkoplastika edition, Malletworks and Cantus. 2008 – 2023 she has been the artistic director of ISPF - Ivana Summer Percussion Festival (formerly known as IBMW – Ivana Bilic Marimba Week), an international percussion event held every year in Samobor, Croatia. The festival has featured some of the best classical, jazz, world and rock percussionists from all over the world. For many years, Ivana has been the solo timpanist of the Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian RTV. She is the recipient of all major Croatian performers’ and discography awards. Ivana is a Marimbaone artist with her own signature line of mallets.

Theodor Milkov (Russia / Greece)

The Greek percussionist Theodor Milkov is widely recognized as one of the most innovative marimba players in the world. Well-known for his pianistic approach to the instrument, revolutionary ideas and technical abilities, he has succeeded in bringing the art of marimba performance to entirely new heights.

Milkov's repertoire includes virtuosic transcriptions of music originally written for harpsichord and piano, as well as contemporary compositions dedicated to himself. Milkov began his percussion studies at the age of seven at the Municipal Conservatory of Patras, Greece, under the supervision of his stepfather Maxim Mankovski. Subsequently, he studied at the Musikhochschule Detmold (Germany), the Royal Conservatoire Den Haag and the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam (The Netherlands), taking lessons with prominent teachers such as Peter Prommel, Hans Zanderoep, Fedor Teunisse, Luuk Nagdegaal, Nick Woud and Gustavo Gimmeno.

In 2017, he hosted the first Milkov International Marimba Summer Academy (MIMSA) – a rigorous training course based on his method "4 Mallets Method - My Pianistic Approach" which was finally published in 2021 by Edition Svitzer. MIMSA quickly became one of the most popular annually recurring percussion events, attracting eager participants from all over the world: USA, Japan, Taiwan, Zimbabwe, Poland, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, China, Latvia and Hungary. Since 2021 Theodor Milkov is Guest Professor at Mediterranean Music College - Valencia Since 2017 Theodor is a Yamaha and Vic Firth/Zildjian artist.

Svet Stoyanov (Bulgaria)

Praised by the New York Times for his “understated but unmistakable virtuosity” along with a “winning combination of gentleness and fluidity,” Bulgarian Percussionist Svet Stoyanov is a unique voice and driving force in modern percussion. A winner of the prestigious Concert Artists Guild International Competition and a recipient of the Johns Hopkins University Alumni award, Svet’s unique artistic profile encompasses the roles of performer, producer, and educator.

His performing career highlights include concerto appearances with the Chicago, Seattle, American Houston Symphony Orchestra and many more, as well as solo performances at the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Verizon Hall, Shanghai Symphony Hall, and Taiwan National Concert Hall, among others worldwide.

A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Svet Stoyanov has commissioned a significant body of works. Recent highlights feature Sideman Concerto by Mason Bates and Duo Duel – a double concerto by Pulitzer and Grammy winner Jennifer Higdon. Duo Duel was premiered in 2022 with the Houston Symphony. The premiere performances were recorded live and recently released on a Naxos CD album.

As a producer, Svet directed numerous works for The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music during virtual seasons of 2020 and 2021. In 2022, he collaborated with flutist Jennifer Grim on her acclaimed debut recording, Through Broken Time. Most recently Mr. Stoyanov produced and released the percussion masterworks “Kyoto” by John Psathas, and “Water” by Alejandro Viñao to a critical acclaim.

Svet Stoyanov is a founding member of the groundbreaking project The Percussion Collective – a collaboration featuring some of today’s finest percussionists. With The Collective, Svet recently toured China and premiered Christopher Theofanidis’ Drum Circles Concerto with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. The Collective is preparing for numerous releases and concerts, both in the USA and abroad.

Mr. Stoyanov is a Professor at the Frost School of Music, where collaboratively he has built one of today’s most innovative percussion programs, creatively bonding orchestral, solo and chamber music. Frost Percussion humbly enjoys a wonderful international reputation, with numerous of its graduates winning prestigious positions in Orchestras, Educational Institutions and Arts organizations.

Svet’s artistic mission is committed to the authenticity, virtue, and transformative power of music.

Garrett Mendelow (USA)

“A great groove and awareness of the ensemble.” - TROMP Jury 2012. “Fantastically gifted and refreshingly sincere.” - Grammy Award-winning percussionist Nick Terry. Garrett Mendelow is a solo and collaborative percussionist from the United States. Though his interest in percussion extends to many different facets of the art, he dedicates much of his time to contemporary and theatrical percussion performance practices and new music in a wide variety of settings. In the last decade, Garrett has appeared in national and international venues throughout North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. Venues include major concert halls, such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, De Doelen Concert Hall in Rotterdam, Hill Auditorium, the Vienna Muziekverein, and the Salzburg Großes Festspielhaus. Major festival appearances include the Cross-Linx Festival (2014), the Tromp Percussion Festival (2014), the Transplanted Roots Festival (2015), the International Society for Performing Arts convention in New York (2017), and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (2021).

He released an album for a solo vocalizing percussionist, Speaking to His Craft, in 2020, and his most recent album, KOMBOÏ, is dedicated to the percussion solos and collaborative duos of composer and architect, Iannis Xenakis. Garrett also has appeared with the Britten Sinfonia and Colin Currie, the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra and Jason Richard Huxtable, Schlagwerk Den Haag, Sõ Percussion, and the Knights Chamber Orchestra of New York. Additionally, Garrett has an immense passion for teaching, and has been featured as a visiting guest artist and clinician at major universities and conservatories around the world, such as the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Lyon, the Académie Supérieure de Musique de Strasbourg, the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the Victoria University of Wellington, the Mahidol University of Music, and the Tainan National University of the Arts. Garrett is a proud endorser of Pearl Drums, Adams Musical Instruments, Dream Cymbals and Gongs, and Innovative Percussion.

Katarzyna Mycka (Poland)

Critics have given the internationally renowned marimba virtuoso and chamber musician Katarzyna Mycka the sobriquet “she who dances with the mallets”. Her “perfect mallet technique” and “marvelous, rhythmic precision” are characteristic for the musician, who performs on a beautiful five-octave concert marimba. Expert circles testify to the “extraordinary richness of tone quality” and “fascinatingly broad palette of musical effects” of the marimba, which is rarely heard as a solo instrument. Audiences are also enthralled by the artistic elegance and dance-like energy of her playing. After receiving training in piano and percussion, she discovered the marimba as her “ideal medium for musical expression” while studying at music academies in Gdansk, Stuttgart, and Salzburg. Numerous prizes and awards at international music competitions then followed: in 1995, first prize and audience prize at the International Percussion Competition Luxembourg for Marimba Solo, one year later first place at the first World Marimba Competition Stuttgart. Invitations to give concerts and master classes in America, Asia, and various European countries followed naturally.

Appearances as a soloist at the most important marimba festivals and events (Osaka, 1998; Linz, 2004; Minneapolis, 2010; various editions of PASIC in the USA) as well as solo parts with well-known orchestras around the world (Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, Bochum Symphony, Polish Chamber Philharmonic Sopot, Vienna, Prague and Heilbronn Chamber Orchestras (WKO), Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Israeli, RSO Luxemburg and many others) today make Katarzyna Mycka one of the leading pioneers in her still-evolving instrument. The large concert marimba has only existed in its current form since the mid-1980s. Mycka, who was honored by the Polish Percussive Arts Society in 1999 as "Ambassadress of Polish Percussion Art”, emphatically promotes the popularization of the marimba. For her, this includes a commitment to training young players and participation in juries at international competitions, but in particular the International Katarzyna Mycka Marimba Academy (IKMMA), which she established in 2003. The 10th edition in 2023 consolidated 20 years of history connecting people through love to marimba, music and friendship. This same year, Katarzyna Mycka was appointed as professor for percussion at the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen, Germany, while she continues her educational work at the Stanislaw Moniuszko Music Academy in Gdansk, Poland.

Katarzyna Mycka dedicates "a lot of time and enthusiasm" to collaborating with composers who "explore and understand the special and marvelous sound of the marimba." In this, the guiding principle —says the musician, to whom numerous concerts and chamber music works have been dedicated— is "musical trust." The artist’s multifaceted solo program includes not only transcriptions of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach or Sergei Prokofiev, but also original compositions by coetaneous composers such as Emmanuel Séjourné or Anna Ignatowicz-Glinska. Over the years, she has recorded a cross-section of her repertoire on ten CDs. Her most recent album, “Marimba & Organ Melange”, includes yet another collection of premiere recordings.

Marta Klimasara (Poland) 

It was her outstanding musical qualities which led the jury of the ARD contest in Munich to honour Marta Klimasara with the first prize in the percussions discipline in the autumn of 2001. The Polish musician, who also won the – all time first – prize of the public this year, is endowed not only with winning charm and personality but also with great artistic sensitivity and polyvalence: she masters the soft, sometimes even intimate sound of the marimba with as much assurance as all the other challenges of the manifold percussion instrumentary with its almost endless arrangement possibilities. It was by no means clear from the beginning that Marta Klimasara would become a percussionist: a piano student in her home town of Sosnowiec, she took up percussions at the age of twelve and was rewarded, four years later and whilst studying under Krzystof Jaguszewski, with several national prizes; she soon started on a solo career with the Silesian Philharmony in Kattowitz. To pursue her studies under professor Klaus Treßelt at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart she moved to Germany in 1994 and has since been living in the capital of Baden-Württemberg. In 2004 she became professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart.

Today Marta Klimasara is a highly acknowledged percussionist, famed also outside the borders of her new home; her international renown rests not only on her tournées in France, Sweden, Japan and South Africa but also on her many successes in international contests. Before winning the ARD contest – one of the most famed competitions in its field – she had already been awarded the first prize in the »2nd World Marimba Competition« in Japan in 1999 as well as the second prize in the »3rd Krzystof Penderecki International Competition of Contemporary Music« in Krakow. The young artist holds scholarships from the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe and the Kunststiftung BadenWürttemberg and was commended by the European Cultural Foundation in Strasburg for her outstanding musical and artistic personality. Marta Klimasara takes part in concerts with orchestras such as RSO Stuttgart, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, National Philharmony Warsaw, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the RSO Saarbrücken and is a guest on many international festivals in cities including Vienna, Paris, Warsaw and St. Petersburg. She also produces radio and television recordings with the Bavarian and Hessian radio institutions, with the SWR, France Musique, SR 2 KulturRadio and Deutschlandradio. Her solo debut recording »I Ching« was released in spring 2002 with triptychon.

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