Percussionist, Educator, Freelancer, and Composer/Arranger Pablo Rieppi returns in Part 2 to discuss growing up in Northern Virginia (after being born in Uruguay), getting into percussion, improvising in classical music and jazz, and getting better at focused listening (01:40), going to George Mason University (VA) for undergrad (22:30), attending Juilliard for his masters and moving to New York City (31:45), and closes with the Random Ass Questions, including segments on cooking, sports fandoms, great books and movies, a crazy ballet story, and seeing Modern Art in person (36:15).

Finishing with a Rave on the 2023 film Fallen Leaves (01:14:50).

Pete's Percussion Podcast: Episode 380 - Pablo Rieppi (Part 2)

High Point University (NC) Professor of Percussion, Theory and Composition Louis Raymond-Kolker stops by to chat about HPU, North Carolina, and teaching at Appalachian State and Winston-Salem State (02:25), getting into composing and the art of teaching composition (26:05), growing up in Austin, TX and getting into all things percussion (37:40), his undergrad years at Texas A&M-Commerce and his time in drum corps (49:05), his masters years at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (01:08:15), his gap year before heading to North Carolina, including his time as a USPS letter carrier (01:18:45), and finishes with the Random Ass Questions segment, including discussions of “The Percussion Canon”, Jhumpa Lahiri, Miyazaki movie scores, and “Dave the Diver” (01:26:45).

Finishing with a Rave on the 2023 film The Zone of Interest (01:52:35).

Pete's Percussion Podcast: Episode 384 - Louis Raymond-Kolker

Denver (CO)-based percussionist Arin Levy stops by to talk about Enso Sounds, gong selection, dealing with logistics, and the business of sound baths (03:15), growing up in Canton (OH), drum corps, playing trombone, and their involvement in theater (26:40), their undergrad years at Ohio University (36:55), going to Eastern Kentucky for master’s and teaching as a sabbatical replacement (47:00), and living in Indianapolis after the master’s degree, teaching high school drumlines, working with Jeff Queen, and freelancing (57:35).

Finishing with a Rave on the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra (01:03:10).

Pete's Percussion Podcast: Episode 385 - Arin Levy (Part 1)

Denver-based sound bath specialist and freelance percussionist Arin Levy returns to talk  about getting their DMA from Alabama years, falling out in interest in getting a teaching job, and their personalized dissertation (01:35), getting into sound baths, moving to Denver, and working for MakeMusic (19:25), and settles in for the Random Ass Questions segment, with segments on the 432 Hz Debate, their experience in Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity, terrible jobs, the extensive Star Wars universe, the Twilight movies, traveling internationally, and Everything Everywhere All At Once (27:15).

Finishing with a Rave with 2 films from the True/False Documentary Film Festival (01:07:10).

Pete's Percussion Podcast: Episode 386 - Arin Levy (Part 2)

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Music Professor Bill Sallak stops by to talk about his job and dual role as director of percussion and audio engineering, working previously at Kent State (OH), Akros Percussion Collective, and manufacturing his own percussion items (03:20), growing up near Buffalo (NY), his interests in science and math, and watching transcendent athletes and teams (29:05), attending SUNY-Fredonia for undergrad (48:40), his research into J.S. Bach’s music transcribed for marimba (56:25), attending the University of Akron (OH) for his master’s and accompanying for modern dance (01:06:30), his sabbatical year at Ohio University and his doctoral studies at Arizona State (01:20:45), and finishes with the Random Ass Questions, including segments on flexibility in performance, making pasta sauce, Invisible Cities, great percussion music, and Barbara Kingsolver (01:35:50).

Finishing with a Rave on Marissa R. Moss’s 2022 book Her Country (01:57:50).

Pete's Percussion Podcast: Episode 387 - Bill Sallak

Retired Cincinnati Conservatory of Music Professor, co-founder of BlackEarth Percussion Group and the Percussion Group Cincinnati, and performing percussionist Allen Otte stops by to talk about his current work with an early music improvisational group and The Innocents Project with John Lane (03:50), growing up in Sheboygan, WI, playing in church and with polka bands, his beginnings in piano and percussion, and studying with Michael Rosen (32:20), attending Oberlin (OH) for undergrad and getting into improvisation and new chamber music (43:50), and his work with BlackEarth, “inhaling music” vs. building repertoire and programs, and eventually making his way to CCM (56:40).

Finishing with a Rave on Ireland, its people, and its parades (01:17:30).

Pete's Percussion Podcast: Episode 388 - Allen Otte (Part 1)

Allen Otte returns to talk about getting to Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, taking over the percussion program, establishing the Percussion Group Cincinnati at the school, and building a program (01:40), the changing personnel of PGC, commissioning composers, performing with students, being the “institutional memory”, and his decision to retire (17:15), and finishes with the Random Ass Questions, including segments on percussion literature choices, “Otte-speak”, diversity issues, The Met Opera Online, English novels, sports in the 1960s, and Renaissance Choral Music (38:10).

Finishing with a Rave on Nick Tosches’ 2005 book on Arnold Rothstein (01:12:05).

Pete's Percussion Podcast: Episode 389 - Allen Otte (Part 2)

Minneapolis (MN)-based freelance percussionist and educator Eri Isomura stops by to discuss her freelancing work, 10th Wave Music, networking, and the amount of planning needed to put it all together (03:40), her responsibilities when she taught at St. Olaf (MN), changes in her life once she became a mom, and the “Three M’s of Freelancing” (22:30), more about 10th Wave Collective and her entrepreneurship training in Boston (33:25), growing up in Minneapolis, her father the cellist, and her extensive piano background (42:20), and discusses her time as an undergrad at St. Olaf, the development of one’s musical taste, and how to create great sound from percussion instruments (56:45).

Finishing with a Rave on the 2022 book Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library (01:15:00).

Pete's Percussion Podcast: Episode 390 - Eri Isomura (Part 1)

Minneapolis-based percussionist Eri Isomura returns to talk about how she recovered from overuse injuries physically and mentally after undergrad (02:05), her time as a grad student at the Boston Conservatory (MA), studying with great teachers, attending summer festivals, and why it’s so challenging to have a performance career in Boston (12:55), and finishes with the Random Ass Questions segment, including portions on being a woman in the field of percussion, Japanese food, great books, private Karaoke rooms, and Andy Warhol (34:30). 

Finishing with a Rave on the 1975 film Nashville (01:11:00).

Pete's Percussion Podcast: Episode 391 - Eri Isomura (Part 2)

Iowa City-based percussionist, educator, and band leader Ginny Armstrong stops by to talk about her teaching responsibilities in and around Iowa, teaching community steel band,  and performing regularly (03:50), growing up in West Virginia, playing organ, and getting into percussion (30:00), attending West Virginia University for her undergrad (44:30) and her master’s (59:15), moving to Nashville after her master’s, living and working there, and then going to the University of Iowa for her doctorate (01:09:15), and finishes with the Random Ass Questions, including segments on being a woman in the field of percussion, cooking Thanksgiving dinner, great and terrible movies, David Sedaris and Amy Sedaris, Iowa women’s basketball, and some unusual gigs (01:30:00).

Finishing with a Rave on the Unbound Book Festival in Columbia, Missouri and the chance to moderate a panel (02:01:30).

Pete's Percussion Podcast: Episode 392 - Ginny Armstrong

United States Air Force Academy Band Percussionist and Drummer Kathryn Yuill stops by to talk about her military band job, the active scheduling and performing with all of the ensembles that occurs, and living in Colorado Springs (02:20), what it’s like to play in military bands, the audition process, and freelancing and subbing in Colorado (13:20), her internship with the Percussive Arts Society in 2017, the logistics of PASIC, and her recent presentation at 2023 Midwest Band Clinic (23:00), growing up in Wisconsin, getting into drumset and concert percussion, playing golf and participating in the YMCA’s Youth & Government Program (36:00), attending the University of Minnesota for undergrad (48:25), her years as a masters student at Indiana University, the importance of recording during practice sessions, and living and working in the St. Louis area (01:00:15), and settles into the Random Ass Questions, including segments on the importance of drumset in overall percussion study, being a woman in the percussion field, great books, gardening, Minnesota sports, and her Beyoncé fandom (01:19:35).

Finishing with a Rave on Jocelyn Neal’s Country Music (01:49:50).

Pete's Percussion Podcast: Episode 380 - Pablo Rieppi (Part 2)

Pete Zambito

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