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andy bliss [dot] net

percussionist

 
Andrew Bliss is a versatile percussionist and ardent proponent of contemporary music, based in Lexington, KY. His performances are inspired by a search for deeper connections and relevance to the society in which they are presented and his work has been heard at the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), the SEAMUS National Conference (IN), the LiveWire Festival (Baltimore, MD), the Intermedia Festival (Indianapolis, IN), and at multiple Percussive Arts Society International Conventions. He has premiered works by John Luther Adams, Christopher Adler, and Kyle Gann, and regularly performs the music of David Lang, Mark Applebaum, and John Supko. Bliss’s research interests involve music and number as well as the trajectory of the percussion repertoire within sociological, historic, and cultural contexts. The former was explored in his DMA document which surrounded the music of David Lang; the findings of this work have been presented at the the Society for Music and Minimalism’s 2nd International Conference (Kansas City, MO) and in Zagreb, Croatia at the CMS International Conference. Andrew is equally at home performing the music of non-Western cultures. His professional performance background on steel pans was strongly rooted in his visit to Trinidad and Tobago during the 2000 World Steelband Festival. Bliss attended this event with the Northern Illinois University Steelband, where they placed 2nd in the Finals Competition. He has also performed the traditional music of Cuba and Brazil in a variety of settings, including appearances with the NIU latin jazz combo at the Illinois Music Educator’s Association conference in Peoria, IL and with the University of Kentucky Percussion Ensemble during a PASIC Showcase Concert in 2004. A devoted educator, Andrew is on the faculty at the University of Tennessee at Martin and has held positions at Centre College and at the University of Kentucky. As a pedagogue, he has presented at the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic, the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy (NCPP), and at the Association for Technology in Music Instruction’s (ATMI) National Conference. He has also served on the faculty for the Music for All Summer Symposium, as front ensemble caption head for the Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps, and has given a variety of masterclasses throughout the U.S. as well as in Bangkok, Thailand and Stockholm, Sweden. Andrew regularly appears with pianist Mabel Kwan as Nothing in Common, works with multi-media artist John Pobojewski, and is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the nief-norf Project. In June 2011, Andrew will launch the first annual nief-norf Summer Festival, a ten-day festival emphasizing collaboration between performers and composers, in residence at Furman University in Greenville, SC. Andrew received his DMA and MM in percussion performance from the University of Kentucky and his Bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University. He is proud to be a Yamaha Performing Artist and to have the generous support of Innovative Percussion, Evans Drumheads, and Black Swamp Percussion Instruments and Accessories. His primary teachers include James Campbell, Rich Holly, Robert Chappell, Orlando Cotto, and Liam Teague. Full Downloadable Bio as PDF

Photo by Jammy Straub