TCU Percussion Festival
WHEN
April 4 & 5, 2025
WHERE
The TCU Music Center
WHY / MISSION STATEMENT
The goal of the TCU Percussion Festival is to promote percussion education and performance in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth region. The Festival will offer performance opportunities for concert percussion ensembles and soloists, as well as clinics and other educational experiences.
FESTIVAL CONCERT TICKETS & EVENT PROGRAM
Coming soon!
ENSEMBLES
Performance slots
- 30-minute slot ($375)
- All performances will be professionally recorded (audio and video)
- Ensemble must enter and exit the stage within their 30-minute slot
- After all equipment has exited the stage, students and/or director(s) may return to receive clinician feedback in the remainder of the time slot
Timing and Penalties – NEW FOR 2025!
- There will be a T&P judge for the competition
- Time begins when your ensemble is cued to enter the stage, and ends when your equipment is completely off the stage
- Audio and video recording will stop at the 28-minute mark so your ensemble may exit the stage in a timely fashion
- There will be a 2 point penalty for each minute your ensemble is on stage past the 30-minute mark
- No penalty will be given during the clinic time
Divisions (depending on the makeup of the entries) may be broken down into:
- Advanced Large Division (8 or more performers)
- Advanced Small Division (7 or fewer performers)
- Intermediate Large Division (8 or more performers)
- Intermediate Small Division (7 or fewer performers)
(Intermediate categories are intended for developing programs and “2nd band” students of stronger groups)
- Middle School / Junior High
- Non-competitive – written comments
Equipment
- Large instruments provided by TCU (a specific instrument list will be provided at a later time)
- Schools must provide their own accessories and smaller instruments
SOLOS
Performance slots
- 10-minute time slot ($40)
- Students perform and receive feedback from the judge during the remainder of the time slot
Timing and Penalties
- Slots begin when you enter the room, and end when you exit
- There will be a 1 point penalty for each minute past the 10-minute mark
Divisions (there must be at least two entries in a division to be competitive):
- Middle School Drum (concert snare, rudimental snare/tenor, or multiple-percussion) NEW FOR 2025!
- Middle School Keyboard NEW FOR 2025!
- High School Intermediate or Advanced Drum (concert snare, rudimental snare/tenor, or multiple-percussion)
- High School Intermediate or Advanced Keyboard
- University Drum (concert snare, rudimental snare/tenor, or multiple-percussion) NEW FOR 2025!
- University Keyboard NEW FOR 2025!
- Non-competitive – written comments
Equipment
- A marimba and vibraphone will be provided
- Students must provide any other instruments
WRITTEN COMMENTS & CLINIC / CRITIQUE
Each ensemble and soloist will receive written comment sheets.
After their performance, ensembles and soloists will receive feedback in the remainder of their performance time slot.
The day may also contain other clinics and educational opportunities pending schedules and availability.
COMPETITIVE OR NON-COMPETITIVE
During the registration process, all ensembles and soloists may choose to participate in the competitive aspect of the festival or not. If you choose non-competitive, you will still receive written comments and a clinic/critique after your performance.
PERFORMANCE VENUE(S)
All schools will perform in either the Van Cliburn Concert Hall or Ed Landreth Hall on the TCU campus.
EVENING CONCERT & AWARDS CEREMONY
The TCU Percussion Ensembles will perform an evening concert on Friday 4/4 and Saturday 4/5. Pending availability, there may be guest artists on either, or both concerts. There will be an awards ceremony after the TCU concert on Saturday with the top scoring ensemble pieces (in each category) and an outstanding soloist recognized, as well as the highest overall ensemble score of the day.
—REGISTRATION & PAYMENT—NEW FOR 2025!
Registration for performance slots (and payment) opens October 15, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.
Piece titles, divisions, number of performers, will be requested in February.
Percussion Ensembles please register here:
DEADLINE: Ensemble information and FULL payment must be received by February 10, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.
Please note – You will be prompted during registration whether you would like to pay via invoice or credit card. You will be sent your preferred payment method at a later date.
Soloists please register and pay here:
DEADLINE: Solo information and FULL payment must be received by March 3, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.
CANCELLATION & REFUND POLICY
In the event you have to cancel your registration, please submit written notification to band@tcu.edu.
Cancellation requests received fifteen days before the festival will receive a full refund. After that date, you will be charged a $50.00 cancellation fee for ensembles and $5.00 for solos. There are no refunds for “no shows.”
RECORDINGS
Professional audio / video recordings of each school’s performance will be provided.
RECORDINGS PROVIDED BY TCU ARE FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY! A mechanical or synchronization license must be obtained if you intend to distribute, post, etc. TCU and its recording contractors are not responsible if you choose to distribute these recordings without a mechanical license.
COPYRIGHT
Ensembles participating must furnish TWO (2) sets of original scores, and soloists must furnish ONE (1) original of the piece you will be performing, with the measures numbered on each piece to be performed. Duplication of published scores is not acceptable without written permission from the copyright holder. If original scores are not provided, ensembles may still perform but will not be adjudicated or considered for a division award.
We prefer you only perform published music you have purchased. If you are performing an arrangement of a copyrighted song, you will need to prove that you have permission for the arrangement. If proof is not available at the site, TCU and our recording contractors will not produce archival recordings.
QUESTIONS
Contact Festival Coordinators with questions – percussion@tcu.edu
Please visit our social media for current updates, photos, and more:
“TCU Percussion Festival” – https://www.facebook.com/TCU-Percussion-Festival-102287765640376
“TCU Percussion Studio” – https://www.facebook.com/TCUpercussion
Joey Carter is active as a vibraphonist, drum set artist, percussionist, pianist, organist, and arranger. He performs regularly as a piano soloist, with his own trio or quintet, the local artist Johnny Reno, and as a freelance and recording session musician. He has been a featured soloist at the Umbria Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Pori Jazz Festival, the Honolulu Jazz Festival, and festivals in Copenhagen, Salzburg, Verbier, and Budapest. Joey has appeared in concert with Peter Erskine, Randy Brecker, Cedar Walton, Chris Valdala, Ed Shaunessy, Alex Iles, Marvin Stamm, and many others. Joey is a member of and composer for the original jazz group Bertha Coolidge which won Album of the Year (Live at the Caravan of Dreams 030201 in 2002), best Jazz Group (2003, 2004), Best Live Show (2008), and was inducted into in the Fort Worth Weekly music Hall of Fame in 2018. Joey has arranged music for movies (including Spy Kids 3D), drum lines, big bands, musicals, and many popular music projects.
Joey has taught music theory, ear training, jazz history, jazz ensemble, jazz improvisation, and private lessons in percussion and jazz piano at Texas Christian University since the fall of 2000. He received his Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance at Texas Christian University in May of 2000 and a B.M.E. from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1991.
Dr. Andrew Eldridge is the Assistant Professor of Percussion and Coordinator of Percussion at the University of Texas at Arlington. Under his direction, the UTA Percussion Ensemble was selected to present the New Literature Session at the 2017 Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC). The ensemble also performed a Showcase Concert at the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) annual convention in February 2017. Dedicated to contributing new repertoire to the percussion ensemble art form, the UTA Percussion Ensemble continues to commission music and give world premieres. The most recent projects include a world premiere of Cody Holmes’s “Remnants,” as well as a commission and world premiere from composers Nathan Daughtrey and Francisco Perez.
Andrew serves on the Percussion Ensemble Committee for the Percussive Arts Society. He served a three-year term on the Lone Star Wind Orchestra Board of Directors and has performed with the group as a section percussionist since 2009. Andrew presented clinics on crowd-funding at the 2013 Midwest Clinic and 2014 Texas Music Educators Association annual convention, and recently presented a clinic called “Launching the MIDI Controller into the Music Curriculum” at the 2018 Texas Music Educators Association annual convention.
An avid performer of new music, Andrew has individually commissioned and given the world premieres of music written for percussion by Doug Bush, Kyle Kindred, Dwayne Rice, Martin Blessinger, Ryan George, and David Maslanka. Most recently, Andrew was selected to perform in recitals for the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy, the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors, and the College Music Society.
Jeffrey S. Hodge has been a member of the percussion faculty at Texas Christian University since 2007. At TCU he is involved in every aspect of the Percussion Studio, including teaching/arranging for the TCU Drumline, conducting/directing the Percussion Orchestra II and Percussion Ensemble II, directing the Steel Band II, teaching percussion techniques and applied lessons at all levels.
As a performer, Mr. Hodge has performed in Mexico, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, England, and across the United States. He holds a master’s from the University of Arkansas, and a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University-Commerce. Mr. Hodge is an active performer, clinician, composer/arranger, and adjudicator for a variety of percussion events across Texas. He works as a clinician/artist for Innovative Percussion. Mr. Hodge lives in Dallas with his wife Alex, and their son Carter.
Emily Lemmerman is a professional pan builder and tuner, the first woman to tune for Panorama in Trinidad, the only woman to tune for any Panorama worldwide, and the first American to tune for Trinidad’s large band category.
As a professional pan tuner, Emily Lemmerman has uncommon access to and perspective on the global steelband landscape. She travels to work with bands around the world- not only as a tuner, but also as an educator, clinician, adviser, and performer. With a formal background in classical music, after a full-time, six-year apprenticeship with Ellie Mannette, and with over 20 years of experience in the field, Emily is one of few people intensively immersed in the broad range of major steelband communities that exist around the world. Emily is a passionate advocate for collaboration and celebration of the diversity that enriches the many successful pan programs that bring joy to communities across the nation. She is very active internationally, working regularly in the Caribbean and Europe. Emily is a charter member of the NSSBE steering committee and serves as Assistant Editor for its newsletter.
Emily first played a steel pan in 1994 during her percussion studies at Ithaca College with Gordon Stout and Ted Rounds. Her love of the instrument led her out of the orchestra and into the panyard. This path led her to Appalachia, the adopted home of Trinidadian and renowned steelband craftsman Dr. Ellie Mannette. She traveled to West Virginia to attend his annual summer workshops and perform with many of the great artists in the steelband community. These experiences influenced her work back at Ithaca, where she began her advocacy of the steel drum as an orchestral instrument. After earning her performance degree in 1998, she moved to Morgantown to study steel drum construction with Dr. Mannette, whose symphonic vision of the instrument continues to inform and inspire her work.
Lemmerman apprenticed with Dr. Mannette and worked for his company full-time from 1998-2004. Here, she honed her building and tuning skills and served as the director of his steelband workshop for four successful seasons. After leaving Morgantown for Austin in 2004, she remained lifelong friends with Ellie.
Emily has played in many Panoramas- in London, New York, St. Vincent, Antigua, and Trinidad, performing on Quadrophonic, 9-Bass, 4-Cello, Double Seconds, Tenor, or playing rhythm. She performed for many years with the Invaders Steel Orchestra– the band that Dr Mannette founded in 1937- and was proud to be a member of the 2009 Panorama champion Silver Stars Orchestra. She has also enjoyed playing with Power Stars, Skiffle Steel Orchestra, Tokyo Steel Orchestra, Katzenjammers, and the Harvard Harps in Trinidad and Tobago, Croydon Steel Orchestra in London, Crossfire in New York Panorama, with the South East Steel Orchestra in St Vincent and with the West Side Symphony in Antigua.
Emily has tuned for the Croydon Steel Orchestra in London Panorama since 2011, and in 2013 she broke the glass ceiling when she was hired as the first woman to tune for Panorama in Trinidad, and the first American to tune in the large band category, blending for Ray Holman and the Skiffle Steel Orchestra from San Fernando during the great year of “Sapna”- for which she also performed in competition. She travels extensively to tune, perform, and clinic with steelbands globally, from Switzerland to Barcelona to Laventille to Seattle. She has tuned for Antigua’s West Side Symphony since 2015, and for Panorama in 2017, she tuned for Boogsie Sharpe and the mighty Phase II Pan Groove.
Emily Lemmerman lives in Austin, Texas with her toddler twins. She continues to build and tune steel drums in the style of Dr. Ellie Mannette, and strives to achieve the level of excellence he so passionately modelled. It is in honor of Dr. Mannette, his support, and his impact on her life that she chose the name “Barracuda” – a legendary instrument of his design – for her company.
Examples of her tuning can be heard in many places, including Austin, Texas, Denton, Texas,London, England, Barcelona, Spain, New York City, Seattle, Washington, and in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Emily Lemmerman also works prolifically as a composer, arranger, clinician, lecturer, and advocate for the art form. She is published by Boxfish Music and founded Austin’s vibrant Inside Out Steelband Camp in 2007. Her composition “Mesa Drive” was featured at the New Music Showcase at PASIC 2017. She has served as a clinician at many different programs, including the Ellie Mannette Festival of Steel, Croydon Steel Orchestra, University of North Texas, the University of the West Indies, and the McCallum High School Fine Arts Academy in Austin. She has served as a judge at the Virginia Arts Festival PanFest Panorama contest, and arranged for its mass band workshop. Emily’s library project, which collects unpublished charts from composers around the world, is helping to preserve music from the ephemeral Panorama seasonal traditions, and strives to promote more diversity of voices within our community. Emily regularly acts an an advisor and resource for research projects internationally. She presented at PASIC 2019 a showcase concert entitled the “Ellie Mannette Memorial Symphony of Steel.”
Read more about Emily in the Trinidad Guardian, Tom Tom Magazine, on Dr. Jeffrey Jones’ Panorama blog, the Swiss Steelband publication PANCH in October 2014, February 2015, (search for LEMMERMAN to find the archived newsletters) and PANCH in 2018 (search MANNETTE to read the eulogy she wrote for Ellie for this German newsletter.) She is also interviewed by Pan Magazine, and When Steel Talks, and once more recently in the Trinidad Guardian. She can be heard on episodes #134 and #135 of Pete Zambito’s Percussion Podcast, and is recognized as the first female pan tuner in Angela Smith’s textbook Steel Drums and Steelbands – A History.
Ben Maughmer is a percussionist/musician from the Dallas Fort Worth Area. In 2023, after completing his thirteenth year as associate director of bands at L.D. Bell high school, he retired from full time teaching in the state of Texas after nearly 30 years of service. Mr. Maughmer is proud to remain active as a consultant for the L.D Bell band program as well as servicing multiple other schools districts throughout the state and country.
Prior to working in HEB Ben worked for seventeen years teaching in the Birdville Independent School District, the last 11 years of which were Associate Director of Bands at Haltom High School, located in the Dallas – Fort Worth area. Under his direction the Haltom High School Percussion Ensemble won the 2004 Percussive Arts Society International call for tapes contest and performed a showcase concert at the 2004 PASIC convention in Nashville Tennessee. In 2019 the L.D Bell chamber percussion ensemble won 1st place in the PAS chamber ensemble contest held at PASIC.
As a performer and instructor Ben has accumulated forty years of drum corps experience, twelve DCI world championships, and four Fred Sanford high percussion titles. Ben is starting his nineteenth year teaching the Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps, where he assists in the coordination of the music ensemble for the corps as well as instruction of the percussion section. Prior to joining the Blue Devils instructional staff in the fall of 2005, Ben served on the instructional staff of the Bluecoats from 2003-2005, the Cavaliers from 2001-2003 and Blue Knights from 1992-1998.
He earned his Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of North Texas where he performed with the world champion U.N.T. drum line for three years and served on the instructional staff for three years.
Ben is an Educational Artist for Ludwig-Musser, and is sponsored by Pro-Mark drumsticks, Evans drumheads, System Blue, Ludwig/Musser and Zildjian Cymbals. His professional affiliations have included, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Band Masters, and the Percussive Arts Society. He is an active clinician, judge and arranger in the United States, Japan and China for marching band and Drum Corps. In 2013 Ben traveled to China to serve as a judge and clinician at the 16th Annual Beijing Students Arts Festival. In 2016 Ben traveled to Beijing on a clinic tour where he gave twenty-two clinics in eleven days including training for the top marching programs in the city as well as the Peoples Liberation Army and Navy percussionists.
Ben served on the staff of Metro Alliance Indoor Percussion Ensemble. He has served as a judge in the indoor percussion circuits NTCA, TCGC, MEPA, IPA, RMPA, MIA, NWAPA, and WGPO.
Ben lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with his wife Maya and their four children, Bianca (22), Benjamin (19), Phoebe (17), and Theodore (16).
Dr. Brian A. West is Professor of Music and the Division Chair/Coordinator of Percussion at Texas Christian University. Under his direction, TCU was named a winner in the 2022, 2019, 2015, 2011, 2008, and 2005 Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competitions. Prior to coming to TCU, Dr. West served as the Director of Percussion Studies at Texas A&M University-Commerce, a winner of the 2000 PAS International Percussion Ensemble Competition. Dr. West’s passion for the percussion ensemble has led to commissioning/premiering over forty new works for this medium. Additionally, he is the Executive Producer of four percussion ensemble CDs. Within the Percussive Arts Society, Dr. West currently serves as the Chair of the Percussion Ensemble Committee. Dr. West has conducted/performed in Hawaii, Italy, Spain, England, France, Australia, and Taiwan. He is an active performer, clinician, composer/arranger, and adjudicator for a variety of percussive events. Dr. Westworks as a clinician/artist for Innovative Percussion, Yamaha, Remo, Marimba One, and Sabian.
Brian Youngblood is the Associate Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at TCU. He received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Abilene Christian University and his Master of Percussion Performance degree from East Texas State University. Before coming to TCU, he taught in the public schools for twelve years. He began teaching in 1987 and spent his first ten years teaching at L.D. Bell High School in Hurst Texas and followed with two years as Director of Bands and Fine Arts Director at Brewer High School in White Settlement. In 1999 Mr. Youngblood joined the faculty at TCU. During his time at TCU, he was Director of the TCU Horned Frog Marching Band for two decades. He also led the TCU Symphonic Band to the group’s first selection and performance at a regional CBDNA Conference. His ensemble responsibilities at TCU include the TCU Symphonic Band, and assistance with the TCU Concert Ensembles and TCU Athletic Bands. In addition to his work with the bands, he also teaches music education classes, music technology classes and assists with the supervision of student teachers.
Mr. Youngblood is a leading drill designer, arranger and program coordinator for marching band. He regularly consults with and writes shows for high school and university bands across the nation. His shows have won many state championships, a Bands of America National Championship and placed in the finals of numerous competitions. Mr. Youngblood is a Co-developer for V-Drill Drill Design Software. He is also a managing partner with B&B Design Concepts LLC for the distribution of the software.
Mr. Youngblood is an active member of the Texas Music Educators Association, The Texas Bandmasters Association and the College Band Directors National Association. He is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society and the Alpha Chapter of the Phi Beta Mu International School Bandmaster Fraternity.
Mr. Youngblood is a product of public school music education in the state of Texas. Before playing in the L.D. Bell High School Band under the direction of Roger Winslow, he was in the junior high bands of Marion West, Earnest Repass and Danny Prado. His undergraduate studies with John Whitwell and Gary Lewis, then at Abilene Christian University, furthered his training in Music Education. His percussion training began with Jim McGahey and Warren Dewey and continued with Allen Teal at Abilene Christian University. His percussion professors at East Texas State University were Robert Houston and Jimmy Finney.
Mr. Youngblood is a frequent clinician and adjudicator in Texas and the Southwest. He enjoys working as a clinician with bands from every age level. He is married to Karin Youngblood and they are the parents of Sarah and Joshua Youngblood. The family attends Trinity Bible Church in Weatherford, Texas.
