Percussion Studio: Faculty Payton MacDonald is a composer/improviser/interpreter. He has created a unique body of work that draws upon his extensive experience with East Indian tabla drumming, American military rudimental drumming, Jazz, European classical music, and the American experimental tradition. He works across multiple musical genres, often at the same time. Several recordings of MacDonald's music exist, including the critically acclaimed Payton MacDonald: Works for Tabla on the ATMA label. MacDonald recently performed his percussion concerto in Carnegie Hall with Alarm Will Sound and again at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A. with the L.A. Philharmonic with John Adams conducting as part of the Green Umbrella series. The New York Times described him as an "energetic soloist." The Los Angeles Times described him as an ". . . inventive, stylistically omnivorous composer and gifted performer . . ." His music has also been described as ". . . engaging and utterly beautiful." (Sequenza 21) MacDonald has been a featured performer of his own music on festivals in Montreal (Voyages) and Minneapolis (Electric Eyes). Numerous ensembles have performed his music around the world, including Alarm Will Sound, Los Angeles Philharmonic, So Percussion, Quintet Mont Royal, Classical Jam, and tabla soloist Shawn Mativetsky. He has received grants and awards from ASCAP, Meet the Composer, American Music Center, American Institute of Indian Studies, as well as fellowships from Yaddo and Ragdale. He has also composed music for the Silken Dance Company. As a performer he is a founding member of Alarm Will Sound, a new-music group based in New York City. Alarm Will Sound is currently regarded as one of the foremost new music ensembles in the country and they have made five recordings, on the Nonesuch and Cantaloupe labels. The New York Times wrote that they are "the future of classical music." Alarm Will Sound has performed in the finest concert halls all over the world. MacDonald also frequently appears as a marimba soloist with Super Marimba. With Super Marimba MacDonald performs his own music using looping machines and delay pedals. MacDonald expands that project with the Super Marimba Band, which includes drums, bass, and two bari saxophones. He also performs full-length concerts of freely improvised music. As an interpreter he has commissioned works from other composers, including Charles Wuorinen, Robert Morris, Caleb Burhans, David Saperstein, and Stuart Saunders Smith. From 1994-2004 MacDonald performed with Verederos, a flute and percussion duo. Verederos recorded two CDs under the Equilibrium label. He has also appeared as a soloist in England and Croatia, performed with Present Music and the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, and toured Japan with Keiko Abe and the Galaxy percussion group. MacDonald studied music at the University of Michigan and the Eastman School of Music. His composition teachers include Sydney Hodkinson, Robert Morris, Dave Rivello, Bright Sheng, and Augusta Read Thomas. His percussion teachers include John Beck and Michael Udow. Further studies include tabla with Bob Becker and Pandit Sharda Sahai. MacDonald is a disciple of Mr. Sahai. www.paytonmacdonald.commacdonaldp@wpunj.edu(973) 720-3667 John Ferrari enjoys a varied career as a versatile classical and hand percussionist, drummer, conductor, and educator in the New York/New Jersey area. He is a founding member of the Naumburg Award winning New Millennium Ensemble and is drummer/percussionist for Meridian Arts Ensemble-Brass & Percussion. Frequent recipients of the ASCAP/CMA Award for Adventurous Programming, both groups have collectively released nine critically acclaimed recordings. Between these groups and others he has toured extensively as both performer and clinician in the U.S., Europe, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Asia. A special cultural ambassador visa from the US State Department took Meridian Arts Ensemble to Cuba for that country's International Festival of New Music in October 2003. Mr. Ferrari is a frequent guest artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has performed and recorded with most notable chamber-music organizations around New York, including: Bang On A Can All-Stars, Cygnus, Da Capo Chamber Players, Empire Brass, The Group for Contemporary Music, New Band, New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, New Music Consort, Orion and Peterson String Quartets, Patrick Grant Group, Riverside Symphony, Locrian, Sequitur, and Talujon Percussion Quartet. Musically active in chamber, orchestral, pop, jazz, Broadway, dance, film and television, he can be heard on the Albany, CRI, Centaur CGNJ, Channel Classics, Koch International, Santa Fe New Music and Strange Music record labels. Mr. Ferrari holds DMA and MM degrees from SUNY Stony Brook, and a BM from William Paterson University where he has been on the performing arts faculty since 2002. Peter Jarvis, director of the highly acclaimed New Jersey Percussion Ensemble is active as a percussionist, conductor, educator, composer, and administrator. The New York Times remarked "Mr. Jarvis and his forces richly deserved the standing ovation they received." He has played with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Group for Contemporary Music, the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble of Piccolo Spoleto, newband, Talujon Percussion Quartet, the Hong Kong based Kung Ensemble, New York Art Ensemble, and countless other groups including several orchestras and choruses. Jarvis has appeared as a soloist for numerous New Music Festivals including the Europe Asia Festival in Kazan Russia and as a guest of ISCM League of Composers in New York. As conductor, He has appeared with Saint Luke's Chamber Ensemble, Cygnus Festival Orchestra, Composers Guild of New Jersey Performance Ensemble, Ensemble21, on the San Francisco Symphony's New and Unusual Music Series and many others. Jarvis has appeared in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Asia, Russia and Europe. He can be heard on Nonesuch, CRI, Koch International, Composers Guild of New Jersey, October Music, Capstone, NAXOS, Gram and other recording labels. His compositions are published by Calabrese Brothers Music, LLC. In addition to performing, Jarvis has taught percussion and chamber music at Fairleigh Dickinson University and currently at William Paterson University, and Connecticut College. Gary Van Dyke is an accomplished percussionist who is active as a performer, conductor and educator. He studied percussion with Raymond DesRoches for six years and earned music degrees from William Paterson College and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Mr. Van Dyke performs and conducts with the New Jersey New Music Ensemble and the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble. He can be heard on Nonesuch, Composer's Recording Inc., New World and Capstone recording labels with the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble under Charles Wuorinen, Harvey Solberger and Raymond DesRoches. Mr. Van Dyke has held teaching positions since 1978 and currently teaches/conducts for the Teaneck Public School system in New Jersey, serving seven schools, grades 4 - 12, and is an Adjunct Faculty at William Paterson University, conducting and performing new music and percussion ensemble literature. Mr. Van Dyke makes his home in Ramsey, New Jersey with his wife, Linea and their three children, Amanda, Kyle and Briana.
