The fourth annual ECU Day of Percussion will be held Saturday [MAY 2] at East Central University with clinics, master classes and a finale concert at 4 p.m. featuring the ECU Percussion Ensemble, ECU Jazz Ensemble, Ada High School Percussion Ensemble and three guest clinicians.
All sessions, which are free and open to the public, will be in the Dorothy Summers Theatre or the Black Box Theatre in Science Hall. Featured clinicians will be Luis Benetti, Huei-Yuan Pan and Dr. Justin Stolarik.
Registration will begin at 9 a.m. The first session, a Snare Drum Clinic, will begin at 9:30 a.m., conducted by Dr. Benjamin Finley, assistant director of bands at ECU.
A Timpani Clinic will begin at 10:30 a.m., taught by Dr. Justin Stolarik, assistant director of bands at Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Ark.
Stolarik, whose past performances have been featured in issues of Modern Drummer and Percussion News, has arranged for the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps, the Dallas Wind Symphony, the University of Texas Wind Ensemble and its athletic bands. He also has arranged instrumental back-ups for Carolyn Wonderland, Roky Erickson, Ray Benson, Jerry Jeff Walker and Ghostland Observatory.
The Marimba Master Class at 1 p.m. will be taught by Huei-Yuan Pan, assistant director of bands at Lyons Township High School in Chicago, Ill., and director of the Green Thunder Indoor Percussion Program, a training organization for the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps.
A marching snare drum and marimba specialist, he was a marching member of the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps in 2001 and marched in the snare line and front ensemble of the six-time world champion Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps from 2002-2004.
A Hand Drumming and Afro-Cuban Folklore Workshop will begin at 2:30 p.m., conducted by Luis Benetti, a Latin percussionist who also plays such styles of music as Brazilian, hip hop, reggae, contemporary jazz, salsa and Latin jazz.
A native of Puerto Rico, Benetti has performed with various Afro Caribbean and West African drumming troupes and has appeared at the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Reno Jazz Festival.
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