#474 Will James- Symphonic Percussionist, Educator, Author and More!
It’s Black History Month. Here’s A PLAYLIST for you to celebrate with.
This week’s guest is Will James. Will is the Principal Percussionist of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. He won the position at the age of twenty-five while a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. He graduated from New England Conservatory in 2006 with a Masters of Music and was a student of Will Hudgins of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Will received his Bachelor of Music Degree from Northwestern University in 2004. While attending Northwestern, he studied with Michael Burritt, an active soloist and clinician throughout the country, and James Ross, a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Will has played with many outstanding ensembles including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, and Chautauqua Festival Orchestra. In addition to his experience as an orchestral player, he has performed several solo recitals across the country as well as soloing with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and the New World Symphony. Will has continued his career as a chamber musician in Saint Louis. He is a regular artist performing with the Pulitzer Foundation Chamber Music Series and plays in a Percussion and Piano Duo with Peter Henderson.
Will is a very active educator in the percussion community. He is the Guest Lecturer of Percussion at the University of Missouri. His book The Modern Concert Snare Drum Roll has been met with critical acclaim as a much needed resource for both teachers and students. He has a studio of local students in Saint Louis and has given countless masterclasses across the country at numerous colleges, summer festivals, Days of Percussion and universities; teaching the next generation of great percussionists.
Will is very involved in the Percussive Arts Society (PAS). His articles have been published in Percussive Notes, the PAS periodical, he has presented at many PAS International Conventions, and is currently serving on the PAS Symphonic Committee. Will proudly uses Zildjian Cymbals, Malletech Sticks and Instruments, Evans Drumheads, Grover Percussion Instruments and Beetle Percussion Products in all of his musical projects and performances.
A native of Raleigh, North Carolina, Will visits the Old North State often, where he takes advantage of free grandparent childcare in order to play golf or stare at the ocean. Will met his wife Stephanie, an attorney, when he moved to St Louis. They both welcomed their daughter Cate into the world in 2015 and son Joe, in 2017. When time permits, they pay attention to their lazy dog Buck.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Sean Statser! Performer, composer, and educator Sean Statser (b. 1983) has been called “Lithe, muscular, and mesmerizing" by the New York Times. As an advocate for new music, Mr. Statser actively collaborates with several New York City artists and ensembles including: the Grammy-nominated Metropolis Ensemble, Ensemble LPR, Cadillac Moon Ensemble, and Iktus Percussion. He has premiered over 150 works to date by composers Jason Treuting, Timothy Andres, Caleb Burhans, Kati Agocs, Vivian Fung, Angelica Negron, John Luther Adams and Elliot Carter (NY Premiere), among others.
He has performed with the American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, and New York Pops as a section percussionist, and has appeared at several venues around New York City including: Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Symphony Space, Fisher Center at Bard College, Galapagos Art Space, (Le) Poisson Rouge, and Roulette. Sean has also appeared at the Alba Music Festival, In Tune Music Festival, Ecstatic Festival, three appearances at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (2007, 2008, 2010), and recently performed with Metropolis Ensemble as part of Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors Festival, under the baton of Maestro Tan Dun.
Sean has recorded with a variety of artists, such as: jazz pianist Kenny Werner (No Beginning, No End - Winner of the 2010 Guggenheim Award), Metropolis Ensemble, Harmonie Ensemble New York, Harold Farberman, and Cadillac Moon Ensemble. He has appeared on Naxos, Nonesuch, Orange Mountain Music, Innova Records, Half Note Records, Albany Records and New Dynamic Records. Also active as a composer and arranger, his compositions are available through Bachovich Music Publications.
He received his MM in Instrumental Performance from NYU and holds a BA in Music Performance from Fort Lewis College, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. Upon graduating in 2010, Sean joined the Percussion Studies faculty at New York University.
Happy Birthday to Jamie Eckert. Jamie attended Eastern New Mexico University, where he studied with Robert James, Alison Shaw and Robert Ledbetter. He pursued further studies at the University of New Mexico, studying with Christopher Shultis and Mexican marimbist Steven Chavez. Mr. Eckert pursued master’s studies at West Virginia University, studying with Phil Faini, I Wayan Rai, Ki Mantle Hood, Paschal Younge, Ellie Mannette, Al Wrublesky, and Timothy Peterman. He also studied composition with John Beal and electronic music and composition with Gilbert Trythall. While at West Virginia University, he helped to establish the school’s first steel drum band.
Mr. Eckert has traveled as an educator and performer throughout Asia, Europe, Central America, and the Caribbean. He has taught percussion at Dartmouth High School (MA), where the percussion ensembles have won numerous World Championships. Mr. Eckert was also a member of the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps drum staff for 15 years and was recently inducted into their Hall of Fame.
Mr. Eckert currently teaches percussion, world music, and African American music history at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. While at UMass Dartmouth, he founded the first and only steel drum program in the UMass system. He continues to study African music with royal hartigan and Kwabena Boeteng, and Javanese music with I.M. Harjito. He also enjoys busy summers with his own steel band, “El Caribe”.
Happy Birthday to Vivienne Shippy! Vivienne is a Sacramento-based performer and educator, and currently serves as the Adjunct Assistant Professor of Percussion at Cosumnes River College and as Assistant Instructor of Percussion with Folsom High School. She also currently serves as president of the California Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society.
Vivienne has performed and presented her research in a variety of settings including the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, The Festival of New American Music, The Midwest Conference, and the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy. Her most recent research focuses on the in-depth teaching of repertoire in Percussion Methods courses.
She has also premiered commissioned and premiered new works at events such as the Festival of New American Music and the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy.
As a performer, she has sat in frequently with groups such as Music in the Mountains, Little Rock Wind Symphony, and the Conway Symphony Orchestra, where she served as the principal timpanist for several years.
In addition to her frequent performances, Vivienne also regularly conducts outreach performances and education presentations across the country at places including California State University: Sacramento, the University of Kansas, Ouachita Baptist University, and the University of Central Arkansas Percussion Festival.
Experienced in both concert percussion and front ensemble teaching, she has worked with award-winning marching bands and front ensembles that have been circuit champions under her instruction.
Vivienne is a founding member of Metaphor Percussion, a nationally-touring percussion duo she formed along with Dr. Jordan Shippy (CSU: Sacramento). Metaphor frequently tours the U.S., commissioning and premiering new works, presenting concerts, and participating in artist residencies.
Happy Birthday to Marcia McCants! Up and coming percussionist, Marcia McCants is on the path to change the musical world. She completed her bachelor’s degree from James Madison University and has a Master’s in Music Performance from George Mason University and recently received a Master of Arts in Applied Psychology of Music from the University of Leeds. Her expertise in percussion has been in demand in her area, helping local high schools and middle schools with marching band or concert band. She currently teaches at Virginia State University as an Adjunct Professor or Percussion. Marcia is also active within the Percussive Arts Society being on the Scholarly Research committee and is a member of the Diversity Alliance. She has used her musical platform to bring awareness to social justice issues within the world of music, being recognized by growing social media accounts related to music such as Colors of Classical Music and Modern Marimba.
Her percussion skills have been heralded by peers, mentors, and others such as Sandbox Percussion, Casey Cangelosi, Annie Stevens, and Laurel Black. One of her more recent accolades has been playing with the Colour of Music Orchestra in 2021, resulting in a PASIC performance, and in 2024. Marcia continues and strives to combine her musical skills and knowledge with her drive for social and racial change by supporting artists and composers of color as well as gender equality. She runs a blog combining percussion, music psychology, and well-being in hopes to become a reliable source for all percussionists and musicians.
Happy Birthday to Martin Cohen. Call it love at first sound. In 1956, when Latin Percussion founder Martin Cohen was 17, he wandered into the legendary New York nightclub Birdland, where vibraphonist Cal Tjader was leading a Latin-jazz band. “The music was so infectious that I have never lost my love for it,” Cohen says.
He subsequently started attending the Monday-night jam sessions at Birdland, headed up by Herbie Mann and featuring such Latin percussionists as Candido, Jose Mangual, and Chano Pozo. Although Cohen was an engineer, not a musician, he got the urge to participate.
“I wanted to get a pair of bongos,” he recalls, “because Jose Mangual had made the biggest impression on me. But I couldn’t find a pair of bongos because the U.S. had initiated an embargo of Cuba, and that’s where the good bongos, congas, and cowbells had always come from. So I decided to make my own.”
Cohen wanted to make his drums the traditional way, from a single block of wood. So he bought some blocks of mahogany from a sculpture supply store. Working from photographs he had taken of Johnny Pacheco’s bongos, Cohen took his blocks to a wood turner who machined them for him.
“That was the beginning of my learning process,” Cohen says. “He machined them on Friday, and by Monday they were a quarter of an inch smaller. I didn’t realize that you had to dry the wood first. So he had to insert a piece of wood to accommodate that quarter-inch change.”
Cohen ended up selling that pair of bongos, but he continued making bongos and putting them in stores on consignment. He maintained a day job as an engineer with a company that made medical equipment, but spent his nights and weekends making instruments and going to nightclubs to hear Latin music.
Gig Alerts
Damon Grant will be playing percussion with David Ryan Harris and his All-Star Band in a farewell concert to the current location of the Hotel Cafe (before it moves to its new and larger location) on Saturday March, 14th. More info and tickets AVAILABLE HERE. Doors at 6:30pm/Show at 7:00pm PST.
Lollapaloza has 9 different festivals around the globe. If you would like to attend one (or several), CLICK HERE.
It is Black History Month, so if you’re in the Atlanta, GA area on March 26th, you might want to check out the HBCU Aware Festival.
Educational Spotlight
The 21 Drums Camp is happening in Tuscany, IT from Sept 1st-7th hosted my Mike Johnston. Friend of the show, Carter McLean will also be there as one of the teachers.
There are three more upcoming Day of Percussion events on Feb 12th, 20th, and 22nd. All sponsored by the Percussive Arts Society.
Arts Empowering Life is having a percussion residency program on Cape Cod, MA from June 7th-13th. Two of the clinicians are friends of the show, Eduardo Leandro and Ian Hale (Episode #89, Episode #243, Episode #297, and Episode #347)
Iconic Recording
Will picked Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Performed by the Berlin Philharmonic.
Music News
You can read about this year’s Grammy nominees and winners on Grammy (dot com) or on THIS LINK HERE. Friends of the show Nate Morton and Luis Conte will be playing with the house band for the Grammy Pre Show, streamed on Paramount +. Shout-out to friend of the show, Weedie Braimah (Episode #46, Episode #140, and Episode #464) who is nominated. Also, shout-out to friends of the show, Nate Smith and Bryan Carter for winning.
Shout-out to friends of the show, Anthony Almonte, Marcos Lopez, and Jacquelene Acevedo for playing in the Bad Bunny Street Band. Also Shout-out to friend of the show, Roland Garcia for musical directing that segment.
This administration wants to sue Trevor Noah. You can read the “mean tweet” HERE.
Amid ongoing controversy surrounding the Kennedy Center, Trump said he intends to close the center for two years for reconstruction starting in July. -Article
As Super Bowl LX arrives, here’s a full list of performers slated to appear this year when New England and Seattle battle it out in the Bay Area. -Article
Will James Interview
The song leading into and out of the interview is, “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin, performed by the St. Louis Symphony.
Will has online orchestral repertoire as a subscription service.
He also has it offered at The Percussion Conservatory. Shout-out to friend of the show, Joshua Vonderheide.
Will mentions friend of the show, Raynor Carroll and his repertoire books.
Damon talks about finding auditions for classical and contemporary work. The musicians’ union posts some online and through their newspaper, International Musician. The website Musical Chairs also posts others.
You might be able to find some on THIS SITE or on THIS SITE.
Last week’s guest, Jeffrey Barudin also posts percussion specific jobs to his website as well.
Will attended Northwestern University and studied with Michael Burritt and Jim Ross.
Will got his masters at N.E.C. and studied with Will Hudgins there.
Will talks about the triangle. Damon mentions the Brazilian techniques.
Damon mentions the Miller Machine.
Damon mentions the (Alan) Abel Triangle.
Will talks about the importance of the venue as well as the playing.
Will plays at Powell Hall with the St. Louis Symphony, which is the second oldest symphony in the USA.
Damon asks about “testing” the hall with specific instruments or excerpts.
Will’s wife is a lawyer and they keep work and family separate.
Shout-out to North Carolina and the wealth of musicians that have come from there.
Will talks about playing other instruments before landing on percussion.
Will talks about burnout and balance.
Will talks about how he chose the universities that he attended.
Damon and Will talk about the marching arts.
Will talks about his classmates. Shout-out to friend of the show Annie Stevens and David Skidmore.
Shout-out to friend of the show, Megan Arns. Will used to teach at the University of Missouri.
Will wrote a snare drum book called, The Modern Concert Snare Drum Roll. He talks about what is in it.
Will talks about his warmup process.
Will picks the iconic recording for the week and chooses, “Chaconne“ by J.S Bach as his second choice. Performed by classical guitarist Julian Bream.
Will uses Zildjian cymbals, Malletech mallets, Evans drumheads, Beatle percussion, Grover Pro percussion.
Shout-out to Wayne Viar and Bill Pendergrass. The aforementioned Mike Burritt and Jim Ross. Also, shout-out to Ted Atkatz, Vadim Karpinos, Matt Strauss, (previously mentioned) Will Hudgins, and Chris Diviney.
Props to Alan Stewart and Kevin Ritenauer.
Damon asks about another St. Louis resident.
