#454 Dr. Nadia Azar- Educator, Professor of Kinesiology, and More!
Damon mentions friend of the show, Drew McKeon got married this past weekend.
This week’s guest is Dr. Nadia Azar. Nadia is an Associate Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Windsor. She received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Wayne State University (Detroit, MI).
Her research combines her training in occupational biomechanics and neurophysiology with her love of music (especially rock music) to study drumming performance from the following perspectives:
“Drummers as Athletes” – documenting drummers’ physical exertion during live performances and their engagement in athletic performance related behaviours (e.g., physical preparation for touring, pre/post-show warm-up/cool-down routines).
“Drummers as Workers” – documenting the prevalence and patterns of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders [PRMDs] in drummers and determining the playing-related and lifestyle characteristics that put drummers at risk for, or protect them from, PRMDs.
Dr. Azar’s overall goal is to do for drummers what sport science is doing for athletes: help them to achieve their peak performance while reducing their risk of injuries. Her work has been featured on CBC Radio, Drum Talk TV, and the Drumeo Beat.
R.I.P.
Rest in peace to Charlotte Mabrey, former principal percussionist of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and head of the University of North Florida percussion area, died on sept. 7, 2025. -Article
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Adam Hanson! Northwoods aka Adam Hanson is a drummer, guitar player, songwriter and producer from Massachusetts. Adam graduated from Berklee College of Music and has since spent his professional years based out of Los Angeles. Since working in LA he’s spent as much time in the studio as the stage. Some of the artists Adam has worked with include David Ryan Harris of the John Mayer band, Anthony Ramos, JP Saxe, Julia Michaels, Lennon Stella, Will Wells, Sean Mendes, Quinn Sullivan, Amie Miriello, Kevin Garrett, Badsnacks among others.
Adam has built his career off being a musician, however also ready for a challenge no matter what the call might be. He’s been everything from a drummer, tour manager, stage tech, multipurpose engineer, producer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, singer, production assistant, assistant engineer, and now artist. He’s been able tour nationally and internationally along with appearing on acclaimed shows such as Ellen, The Juno Awards, Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve and many more.
As much as Adam loves playing and working with other people on multiple projects, he now has something of his own. Northwoods, is a project started in the wake of the pandemic. Debut album “This Never Happened”, to be released May 6th, 2022!
Happy Birthday to Mark Wessels! Mark is an internationally respected author and educator and is currently the Director of Education for the Avedis Zildjian Company. As a publisher, his “Fresh Approach” method books are among the most successful in the world, with over 400,000 copies in print between the current titles.
Over the past 25+ years, Mark has been instrumental in developing online educational content. From his founding of one of the first websites devoted to percussion education (TheDrumClub.com) in 1995 to his work building www.vicfirth.com from scratch in 2001, Mark created one of the most popular online destinations for drummers and percussionists today. Along with many of the world’s most prominent artists, Mark produced many of Vic Firth’s most popular educational projects, from the Essential Rudiment posters and accompanying videos and play-along tracks to Percussion 101, WebRhythms, Groove Essentials, Vic Licks and Marimba Literature Library to the popular DCI/WGI “In the Lot” videos which he began filming in 2001. Mark has continually pushed the bar forward with percussion entertainment as well. He was instrumental in filming and producing videos from PASIC, Montreal Drumfest, UK Drum Show as well as the currently popular VFJams and Zildjian Live productions to name a few.
Mark’s background is varied in the world of percussion. He performed in the snare line of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps (1983), holds a B.M.E from the University of Texas at Arlington, was a public school band director and percussion educator in Texas (1984-1999), served as Percussion Caption Head and Arranger for the Sky Ryders Drum and Bugle Corps (1985-1991), and was an active adjudicator for DCI and WGI (1991-2003).
Happy Birthday to Mike Compitello! (This is his other episode). Michael is a dynamic, “fast rising” (WQXR) percussionist dedicated to commissioning and premiering new works that explore the sonic and expressive possibilities of percussion instruments.
He has developed sustained collaborations with composers such as Thomas Kotcheff, Tonia Ko, Amy Beth Kirsten, and Robert Honstein on new works, in addition to working with Helmut Lachenmann, David Lang, John Luther Adams, Alejandro Viñao, Marc Applebaum, and Martin Bresnick on premieres and performances of new solo and chamber works. Currently, Michael’s project Unsnared Drum (released August 2021 on New Focus Recordings) seeks to reexamine the snare drum through new works by composers Nina C. Young, Hannah Lash, Amy Beth Kirsten, and Tonia Ko.
With cellist Hannah Collins as the “remarkably inventive and resourceful” (Gramophone) New Morse Code, Michael has created a singular and personal repertoire through collaboration with some of America’s most esteemed young composers. New Morse Code's 2017 debut album Simplicity Itself on New Focus Recordings was described “an ebullient passage through pieces that each showcase the duo’s clarity of artistic vision and their near-perfect synchronicity” (I Care if You Listen) and “a flag of genuineness raised” (Q2 Music). In 2019 they released the title suite of Matthew Barnson’s portrait album, Vanitas, on Innova recordings and collaborated with Eliza Bagg, Lee Dionne, and andPlay on and all the days were purple, Alex Weiser’s Pulitzer Prize-finalist work on Cantaloupe Music.
Michael is also a member of Percussion Collective, an ensemble dedicated to refined performances of contemporary percussion repertoire, with whom he performed as soloist with the Colorado Symphony, and on concert series across the country.
As an orchestral musician, Michael has performed with the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Aspen Festival Orchestra, and with conductors Pierre Boulez, Marin Alsop, Reinbert de Leeuw, David Zinman, James Conlon, Brad Lubman, and Gustav Meier.
Michael is currently Assistant Professor of Percussion at Arizona State University. He previously taught at the University of Kansas, Cornell University and Mt. Holyoke College, and was Interim Lecturer in Percussion at UMass Amherst in the fall of 2012. Michael earned a DMA and MM from the Yale School of Music, and a BM from the Peabody Conservatory, where he studied with renowned percussionist Robert Van Sice. From 2009 to 2010, Michael performed and studied contemporary chamber music with the Ensemble Modern and the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt, Germany on a Fulbright Grant from the US Department of State.
Gig Alerts
Coachella announced their lineup for this coming April festival (April 10-12 & 17-19) in Indio, CA. Tickets go on sale on Sept. 19th.
Submissions for The Space Between event happening at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON Canada May 28-30, 2026 are now being accepted.
Lady Gaga has announced new North American dates for 2026 continuing the dates she already has lined up for her current 2025 Mayhem tour.
The iHeart Radio Music Fest is happening in Las Vegas, NV from Sept 19-20.
The Farm Aid festival is happening in Minneapolis, MN on Sat Sept 20th.
Educational Spotlight
Damon mentions Dave Elitch’s drum course, Getting Out Of Your Own Way! Which is available on HIS WEBSITE.
The Percussive Arts Society’s Hall of Fame Award Banquet is happening on November, 13th from 6-8pm in the Sagamore 2 ballroom. Limited tickets are available starting at $65 a piece. Two friends of the show in Raynor Carroll and Jamey Haddad are being inducted among others.
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording was chosen by Nadia. It is “Breaking All Illusions” by Dream Theater from the album, ‘Breaking the Fourth Wall’
Music News
Farm Aid’s 40th edition is a go after a tentative deal was reached between the University of Minnesota and members of Teamsters Local 320. -Article
California Rep. Kiley says he has received hundreds of financial documents from FireAid detailing the allocation of over $100 million in funds. -Article
You can see which music orgs received money, and how much did they get? -Article
Musicians keep leaving Spotify in protest of CEO’s defense investments.
Nadia Azar Interview
The song leading into and out of the interview is, “Batuque” by O. Lorenzo Fernandes, arr. Ney Rosauro
Nadia talks about her relationship to drums and percussion.
Shout-out to the Canadian Percussion Network!
Check out the Ontario Day of Percussion.
Damon mentions the study with Dave Reeves and the Star of Indiana.
Nadia talks about the first interactions with drummers Mike Mangini and Jeff Burrows.
Damon talks about the 4 stages of learning.
Damon talks about drumming and flying a helicopter. Those both require advanced psychomotor skills.
Nadia got her undergrad from the University of Windsor. She got her masters and doctorate from Wayne State University.
Two friends of the show who also went to Wayne State were Kris Pooley and Jason Ihnat.
Damon mentions friend of the show, Nick Costa.
Damon mentions Frederick Matthias Alexander and the the Alexander Technique as well as the book by Pedro de Alcantara. The book is called: Indirect Procedures: A Musician's Guide to the Alexander Technique.
Damon mentions that Nadia will be at PASIC and she will be on Saturday November 15th, at 3pm. The full schedule is HERE.
Nadia gives a PASIC preview and talks about the study she did and how it relates to percussion educators.
Damon asks about warmups and cool downs. Nadia talks about static vs. dynamic stretching.
Damon talks about a quick warmup given by a rock climber as well as jump roping.
Nadia recommends jogging in place and shoulder circles among other exercises.
Carpal Tunnel and Tendonitis are common injuries in percussionists. Nadia helped put together THIS ARTICLE to help.
Nadia warns about self diagnosis.
Nadia talks about the research lab she created called The DRUMMER Lab.
Nadia talks about how music was introduced to her. She also talks about how she got into kinesiology.
Nadia is interested in doing some of here studies with drum corps and marching drumlines.
Nadia picks the iconic recording for the week.
Shout-out to Evans Drumheads, Sabian Cymbals, Pearl Drums, Vater Drumsticks,
Shout-out to the Percussive Arts Society, the Canadian Percussion Network, Nadia’s Husband, her kids and parents, and her department at the University of Windsor as well as Mike Mangini and Jeff Burrows.
She teases some future studies.
You can follow Nadia on Facebook, Instagram, or via Drummer Lab.
Nadia talks about some of the research money she works with. Shout-out to the Grammy Museum Foundation, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
