| PERCUSSION PROGRAM |
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History
For more than fifty years, the University of Michigan percussion program has occupied a significant place in American music education. Its faculty has included some of the field’s most outstanding teachers, and its alumni have achieved success in all areas of percussion performance and composition.
 The program began under the leadership of James Salmon in 1954. A Michigan alumnus and active performer in the Chicago music scene, Salmon was renowned for both his teaching gifts and his writings on percussion.
In 1968, Salvatore Rabbio, longtime principal timpanist with the Detroit Symphony, joined the faculty. Four years later, Charles Owen became Professor of Percussion at Michigan in 1972. Owen was the timpanist and mallet keyboard soloist with the U.S. Marine Band from 1934 to 1954 and then became principal percussionist with the Philadelphia Orchestra with Eugene Ormandy for eighteen years.. Owen was known as an inspirational teacher, a source of encouragement to both his colleagues and the many top percussionists who studied with him. His legacy continues through the Owen Memorial Master Class Fund, which brings a guest artist to campus for an extended period each year. The James D. Salmon and Charles E. Owen Percussion Scholarship honors the legacy of these two quality mentors.
The University of Michigan Percussion Ensemble first performed in 1958 under the direction of James Salmon. Under Charles Owen, the group recorded its first two albums, in 1975 and 1981.
In 1982, Michael Udow—who has performed with Keiko Abe, the New Orleans Philharmonic, the Santa Fe Opera and many other outstanding groups and artists—became Professor of Percussion. Under his direction the Percussion Ensemble gained an international reputation for its numerous recordings and performances with renowned soloists and ensembles around the world. The Ensemble has performed at multiple PASIC conventions, toured Japan and Taiwan and performed in New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Merkin Hall.
 In recent years, Detroit Symphony percussionist Ian Ding and timpanist Brian Jones (see bios) have also joined the Michigan percussion faculty, and since 2007 Cary Kocher has taught drumset and jazz vibes. Other adjunct faculty in the past has included Ted Piltzecker, Julie Spencer, Warren Benson, and John Heney,
When Professor Udow requested to step away from the rigors of coordinating the Percussion Program and directing the Percussion Ensemble while continuing to focus on teaching, Dean Christopher Kendall approved a major national search. In 2007, Professor Joseph Gramley became Coordinator of the Percussion Program and Director of the Ensemble. He brings with him wide experience as both a soloist and a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. Together with Professors Udow, Jones, Ding and Kocher, he is helping to continue the Michigan program’s traditions of excellence and rigor.
Images (in order of appearance): James Salmon, Charles Owen, The DSO with Salvatore Rabbio
Written by Sam Livingston with the assistance of Ya-Chi Cheng, Professor Gramley, and Professor Udow.
Source (Owen and Salmon biographical information): PAS Hall of Fame
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