Gwendolyn Dease
Associate Professor of Percussion and Chair of the Brass and Percussion Area
Area(s):
Brass and Percussion
32 Music Practice Building
East Lansing, MI 48824
gdease@msu.edu
(517) 353-2018
About:
Gwendolyn Dease is associate professor of percussion and area chair of brass and percussion at the Michigan State University College of Music. Passionate about educating the next generation of young musicians, she regularly gives master classes at universities throughout the United States and has been an instructor at the Interlochen Arts Camp since 2005.
Dease began her musical career at the age of two, studying piano and violin. As a percussionist, Dease maintains a full career as an active solo, chamber, and orchestral musician, having performed recitals throughout the U.S., Asia and South America. She is an advocate for new music and has participated in groups to commission new works from composers such as Alejandro Vinao, Peter Klatzow, Paul Lansky, Martin Bresnick, John Serry and Roshanne Etezady. She currently serves as principal percussionist with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and hasperformed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Solisti New York Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Symphony, and the Traverse Symphony Orchestra.
The winner of the Keiko Abe Prize at the Second World Marimba Competition in Okaya, Japan, Dease was also the top prize winner at the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts’ ARTS competition. Additionally, she was awarded the performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music and has also been the recipient of the Outstanding Young Musician award from the Peabody Conservatory and the Yale Alumni Award.
Dease released her first solo CD in October of 2007 of all six Cello Suites by J.S. Bach arranged for marimba. She released her second CD "Boomslang" of new works for the marimba in the fall of 2011.
She studied with world-renowned professors Robert van Sice, Keiko Abe, and John Beck. She holds degrees from the Interlochen Arts Academy, Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, and the Yale School of Music.
MSU Percussion Studio Website
- See more at: http://music.msu.edu/faculty/profile/gwendolyn-burgett#sthash.NWtIIxp8.dpuf
Jon Weber
Instructor of Percussion
Area(s):
Brass and Percussion
216 Music Practice Building
East Lansing, MI 48824
weberjon@msu.edu
(517) 432-0051
About:
Jon Weber is visiting instructor of percussion at the Michigan State University College of Music, where he teaches applied percussion lessons, percussion ensemble, salsa band, and the award-winning Michigan State Drumline. He has presented clinics throughout the United States, and in the summer of 2012 presented clinics and a recital in Colombia. He has served as a panel clinician at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention multiple times. Weber has performed with the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Brass Band of Battle Creek, the Flint Symphony Orchestra, the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, the New York Solsti Orchestra, and the Santa Clara Vanguard. He is percussionist for the world fusion group The Nomads, which released its second CD Road Trip in 2007. In 2009, he founded the Michigan State University salsa band, Salsa Verde, which performs across Michigan. Weber also performs regularly with the salsa band Orquesta Ritmo.
Weber taught the Michigan All-State percussion program at Interlochen from 2007-2009. He has also taught percussion at Oklahoma State University. He has performed Michael Daugherty's timpani concerto Raise the Roof with the MSU Wind Symphony and Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion with Orchestra with the MSU Symphony Orchestra. Weber heads the percussion faculty for the summer Performing Arts Camp at Michigan State University. With the MSU Drumline, he has presented performances at the Bands of America Grand National Championships, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, and wherever the Spartans play football. From 2004 - 2011, Weber was composer / arranger for the Detroit Pistons Drumline, which has performed at NBA games in Detroit and Chicago, with Kid Rock on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and the 2006 NBA All-Star Game in Houston, Texas. University and NBA Drumlines have performed his percussion arrangements across the United States. Weber received his DMA in Percussion Performance from Michigan State in 2008. He is a Yamaha Performing Artist and member of the Vic Firth Education Team.
MSU Drumline Website
- See more at: http://music.msu.edu/faculty/profile/jon#sthash.Aeacg7KW.dpuf
