The University of Iowa percussion program is among the oldest in the country, established in 1958 when Iowa hired its first percussion professor, Thomas L. Davis. In 1996, Dr. Daniel Moore became the second professor of percussion in the program’s history. Iowa’s percussion program has a sense of continuity, history, and tradition that is rare.

The percussion program at The University of Iowa has a history of innovation, performance and educational excellence, and leadership in the field of percussion.

Percussion students at Iowa undertake the serious study and exploration of classical, contemporary, ethnic, improvised, and electronic music.

Majors pursue the BM, MA, or DMA degree in Percussion Performance. Undergraduates may also become certified in Music Education or Music Therapy. DMA candidates pursue a customized degree in Percussion Performance and Pedagogy that includes a secondary area option (in place of a foreign language) designed to make students more marketable in the ever-changing landscape of the music profession. Click here for a look at our DMA Graduates.

Dr. Moore maintains a studio size optimum for the individualized mentoring necessary to prepare students to discover and pursue divergent career paths based on their interest areas. Iowa Percussion has many outstanding alumni who have distinguished themselves in nearly every aspect of the music industry over the program‘s 54 years, and their loyalty attests to the fact that the mentoring percussionists receive at Iowa remains valuable to them throughout their careers.

Iowa Percussion has performed at four Percussive Arts Society International Conventions (1997, 2004, 2011, 2014), the Iowa Music Educator’s Convention, the Nashville Percussion Extravaganza at Summer NAMM, at music conservatories in China, and around the state of Iowa and the Midwest. Iowa Percussion has a long-standing commitment to outreach and public engagement, and performs each year for thousands of Iowans of all ages through the Arts Share Program.

Iowa Percussion has shared the stage with performers such as alumni Steven Schick, Yousif Sheronick, Erik Charlston, Michelle Colton, and John Wooton, as well as Andy Narell, Victor Provost, Mike Mainieri, Matt Wilson, Mat Britain, Johnny Rabb, Renzo Spiteri, Anders Åstrand, Ray Holman, Orlando Cotto, Dick Sisto, Liam Teague, Mat Britain, William Wiggins, Andrew Spencer, Jiao Shan Lin, Stuart Marrs, Jimmy Finnie, Robert Chappell, J.C. Combs, Michael Spiro, Steve Houghton, John H. Beck, Alan Lawrence, and Tom Mackey.

The percussion studio has hosted recitals and clinics by artists Dave Samuels, Gary Burton and Chick Corea, Stefon Harris, Keiko Kotoku, Kai Stensgaard, Daniella Ganeva, Richard L. “Dick” Schory, Robert Breithaupt, James Campbell, Tommy Giampietro, Brett Kuhn, Julia Gaines, Linda Maxey, Payton MacDonald, Rick Kuraz, Jeff Moore, Tom Roady, Lamar Burkhalter, alumnus Lee Ferguson’s Duo Contour, the Sylvia Smith Duo, Maraca 2, and many others.

Iowa Percussion has been privileged to commission and premiere works by composers such as Pulitzer Prize winner and Iowa alumnus David Lang, Paul Elwood, Dave Hollinden, Katerina Stamatelos, Lawrence Fritts, Dick Schory, and Robert Moran.

Check out the Iowa Percussion Gallery.

Iowa’s first professor of percussion, Thomas L. Davis (at Iowa 1958-1996), was a pioneer in both early stereo recording and the percussion ensemble art form. In the 1960s, he led Iowa Percussion to become one of the first university percussion ensembles to release a stereo LP album, embracing technology he had explored while a member of the Percussion Pops Orchestra. Dr. Moore (at Iowa since 1996), has continued the tradition by developing an in-house, computer-based digital recording studio incorporating the most advanced software and hardware resources. Iowa Percussion has produced six CDs since 1996 in this dedicated recording studio.

Cabinet of Curiosities (innova 2011) is a historically important compendium of iconic composer Robert Moran’s graphic percussion scores from 1963 to 2010, and plumbs the depths of this highly creative form of composition.

Mantra (innova 2009), a CD of Moran’s compositions released in 2008, features the ensemble performing Obrigado, written in 1995 to celebrate the Kennedy Center’s 25th year, and two new Moran works that Iowa Percussion premiered:  Stirling:  It’s Raining Cats and Dogs, commissioned by Patricia and Michael Scullin, and Kboco, commissioned by UI choreographer Armando Duarte. Moran commented in his liner notes, “it was my fortune to write for this splendid ensemble.”

Other CDs released by Iowa Percussion include Jungle Fever: Dan Moore plays the music of Dick Schory (1999) and Take Me to Your Leader: Percussion Music of Thomas L. Davis (2003), tributes to two important figures in the percussion world. Everywhere Calypso (2002), Noise Brigade (2007), and Queen of the Bands (2012) are favorites by the Iowa Steel Band. 

Learn about the Hawkeye Drumline.