Students find their rhythm with Sō Percussion

So the Virginia Tech Percussion Ensemble is a music ensemble that I conduct and coach. It involves undergraduate students from across campus. All of the music major percussionists are in the ensemble. And then other students who wish to be in it have to audition. So it really accepts students that are performing at a very high level to be included in this ensemble. Sō Percussion is a really huge ensemble in our field. It's so exciting to have them here on campus. What's so amazing, I think about what they have contributed to the field of percussion is just this wide variety of music that my students and myself, we are now performing. You know what's really great in these workshops is when you can see that they are getting it. And you can hear the improvement in sound or the way that they're playing, and Sō Percussion accomplished that immediately. It was really fun to see that happen in this class. So I think the most important reason anyone should be interested in the Percussion Ensemble here at Virginia Tech is genuinely just because of the faculty here. I was touring many different colleges and nothing compared to the instruction here at Virginia Tech. It is just truly remarkable. I think my favorite part about performing is being able to show off what I've learned. Show off what I've created, what I've been able to add to a piece. Like you can look at a piece of music and read it down and it be what it is. Or you can add your own character. And I love being able to add my own spin and twist to things. It makes it a lot more personal. Music like, I connect with music a lot more if I make it more personal to how I want to see it performed and how I'd like to portray it to the audience. I think it's a lot of individual creativity that I absolutely adore.