FACULTY MASTERCLASSES DURING MARIMBAFEST 2025 WEEK

 

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During Marimbafest Week, there will also be TWELVE 1-hour Faculty Artist Masterclasses, which feature our Faculty Artists presenting about various percussion topics in an interactive format. If you've ever wanted to learn more about percussion or go deeper into a particular topic, these might be for you!

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While these masterclasses are designed mainly for our participants, we have LIMITED 1-Class Passes (1CPs) available, which allow you to observe one of these masterclasses and pay a flat fee of $25 AUD at the door per class.  As these classes are super popular, we will only release a very small amount of 1CPs.

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All events listed below are also at the Richard Gill Auditorium at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). These are NOT free and are designed for percussionists more than the general public, so please keep that in mind if you wish to attend.

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MASTERCLASS DAY 1 - Thursday 17th July 2025

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CLASS 1: Mercedes Slack-Smith - Mercedes’ Absolute Beginner Basics
10:30am - 11:30am

Participants to bring: Sticks and practice pads
Topics: Rudimental drumming, snare drum, educational, technique, interactive
We’re kicking off Marimbafest 2025’s masterclasses with one of our participants’ favourites - a drum circle with our amazing Operations Director and Faculty Artist Mercedes! Getting students to ‘buy in’ to technique can be difficult. This masterclass aims to show participants how to make basic technique fun and groovy for you and the student! This will be an easy start to the action packed week with fun rudiment games and also a massed snare lick to popular music.

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CLASS 2: Adam Tan - The Self-Made Percussionist II: Prepare For Your Next Steps
1:00pm - 2:00pm

Participants to bring: Note-taking device or something to write in 
Topics: Career, mindset, marketing, brainstorming exercises
Despite living in one of the most isolated cities in the world and not studying at prestigious conservatories overseas, our Executive Director Adam Tan has created a self-made career in percussion, where opportunities and income have come from performing, teaching, writing music and creating content. Following the first The Self-Made Percussionist masterclass series presented to a full house at PASIC 2024, Adam takes us through simple tips and tricks to preparing yourself for whatever career in percussion you might be looking for. Everything in TSMP II focuses on actionable steps, so no matter where you are in your career - at the very beginning, about to graduate from college/university, or already in the professional world - there’s something for everyone in this session.

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CLASS 3: Ivan Trevino - Use Your Voice: How Vocalizing Can Inform Your Playing, Teaching, and Creativity

2:15pm - 3:15pm

Participants to bring: Note-taking device or something to write in 
Topics: Composition, performance, vocalising, teaching, interactive
Ivan Trevino is one of the most accomplished composer-percussionists in the world of our generation, and continues to inspire thousands with his beautiful music and generous spirit. Some of the most fruitful practicing, teaching, and creative moments Ivan has had have happened without mallets or sticks in hand: “Using my voice helps the internal musician in me come through, and also helps the external one, (the one holding sticks), find focus and clarity.” During this session, which is his Australian in-person masterclass debut, Ivan will demonstrate how vocalizing music helps his playing, teaching, and composing, and how it could do the same for you.

 

CLASS 4: Dr. Rebecca Lloyd-Jones - Sound, Motion, Structure: Approaching the Fundamentals of Multiple-Percussion
3:30pm - 4:30pm

Participants to bring: Note-taking device or book to write in
Topics: Multi-percussion, contemporary music, technique, setups
Sound, Motion, Structure is an in-depth masterclass offering participants a comprehensive overview of technique development for multiple-percussion. Exploring fundamental skills, such as grip, stroke, and sound production, this class provides practical strategies for navigating complex setups, selecting instrumentation, and addressing ergonomics. In addition to exploring technical foundations, the works of Olga Neuwirth, Hannah A. Barnes, and Rebecca Saunders will be discussed, highlighting contemporary approaches to notation and timbre, tracing the historical and cultural emergence of multiple percussion, and situating the repertoire within broader stylistic and compositional movements.

 

MASTERCLASS DAY 2 - Friday 18th July 2025

CLASS 5: Master Christopher (Online) - Performing and Composing with Notated Rap

11:15am - 12:15pm

Participants to bring: yourselves and mallets - we’re going to rap and/or play together!
Topics: Notated rap, hip hop, composition, interactive
In a follow up to last year’s popular The Principles of Power Of VIsion workshop, notated rap trailblazer Master Christopher takes our participants to the world of hip-hop and percussion, with an interactive and hands-on presentation that will explore the possibilities of performing and composing with notated rap. Students will investigate various ways of merging contemporary percussion with hip-hop and experiment with the potential of simultaneously performing while reciting lyrics. Rap is a percussive, rhythmic, and vocal art form, and audience members will have the opportunity to learn more of its musical merits and traditions while finding new ways to blend genres in an ever-changing and collaborative musical world.

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CLASS 6: Tim White OAM - Taming the Butterflies: Performance Psychology for Musicians

1:15pm - 2:15pm
Participants to bring: Note-taking device or book to write in

Topics: Performance psychology, nerves, auditions, stage presence, mindfulness
We’re bringing back another one of our past participants’ favourite classes with WAAPA’s own Head of Percussion and Coordinator of Classical Music, the award-winning Tim White OAM! Do you get worried or anxious about performing?  Do nerves prevent you from achieving your best on stage?  Experiencing those feelings can be really distressing - and sometimes crushing.  This session unpacks the issues and challenges, and gives you powerful, science-backed strategies to overcome stage fright, build mental resilience, and perform with confidence under pressure. Learn how to unlock your full potential, so that your inner star shines bright and strong.

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CLASS 7: Eyo Li  - Create Your Own Style! 3 Elements To Make Visuals From Rudimental Drumming

2:30pm - 3:30pm

Participants to bring: Practice pad, sticks, and a paper and pencil to write your own solo!
Topics: Rudimental drumming, marching, visuals, stick tricks, improvising, interactive
Pick up your sticks and pads with Eyo Li! Eyo is the director, drill designer, conductor and instructor of The Pegasus Vanguard, a marching ensemble in Hong Kong that took 1st Place in the 2016 Drum Corps International DrumLine Battle (International Category). Eyo has marched with all kinds of professional ensembles and has played and designed hundreds of marching shows from competition sets, to parades to sold-out stadium tours of major international artists and sporting events. In this masterclass, Eyo will go through 3 elements that help implement visuals into your drum solo. Eyo will show you rudiments and tricks, guiding you to create your own style of drum solo from the beginner to advanced level.

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CLASS 8: Dr Matthew Lau - Effortless and Relaxed Playing Through Yoga Alignment Knowledge

3:45pm - 4:45pm

Participants to bring: A yoga strap (or a scarf, jacket, towel or belt). A yoga block and mat is optional if you have one!
Topics: Musician’s health, yoga, fitness, technique, mindfulness, interactive
Please note: You will be invited to voluntarily perform stretches and poses in this workshop, but no prior experience in yoga is required, and all types of participants are welcome. The exercises performed in this workshop are safe for all ages and backgrounds. You are welcome to actively participate as you wish, or simply observe the workshop.

 

Our long-time faculty artist family member, award-winning contemporary percussionist Dr. Matthew Lau returns with one of the most popular Marimbafest workshops in history, his yoga workshop for musicians which has been done three times at Marimbafest now! Muscle tensions, aches, pains and soreness are no strangers to any musicians, and percussionists are no exception. In our percussion education, we have been told to relax our hands and put in the hours in our practices with structured sessions and various drills. With the repetition of motions on top of holding heavy mallets and sticks, muscle tensions and soreness naturally occur. Many of us think this is the price we have to pay in order to execute the perfect performance. Matthew has since become a yoga practitioner and uses this to his advantage in performing safely and sustainably with no injuries. This session invites participants to explore these alignment cues and stretches together, and Matthew will share his personal favourite poses targeting certain areas that percussionists have always felt tight and sore in. A short Q&A will be incorporated at the end of the session for the participants to ask questions regarding specific stretches for certain areas. 

 

MASTERCLASS DAY 3 - Saturday 19th July 2025

CLASS 9: Joshua Vonderheide - How To Build A Timpani Roll

10:30am - 11:30am
Participants to bring: a pair of timpani mallets or yarn mallets, as well as a practice pad. Otherwise, any soft surface in the RGA will work.
Topics: Timpani, orchestra, technique, exercises, interactive
Joshua of The Percussion Conservatory and top orchestra the Houston Symphony Orchestra will take you through some drills on increasing hand speed, endurance, and consistency of spacing for single stroke rolls, and then transition over to how to make that sound beautiful on the timpani. There will be a TON of playing in this class! It’s a real workout when done properly, and an extremely pragmatic way of approaching timpani rolls that has benefits across all instruments. 

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CLASS 10: Dr Paul Tanner - “A Jazz Solo? What Scale Should I Play?” Improvisation Workshop

11:45am - 12:45pm
Participants to bring: Your own marimba and/or vibraphone mallets, you will be playing on keyboard instruments or on an untuned percussion instrument in this session if you wish.
Topics: Improvisation, jazz, keyboard percussion, performance, interactive
University of Western Australia Conservatorium of Music’s Chair of Percussion and celebrated Perth/Boorloo based percussionist Dr Paul Tanner returns with another popular improvisation workshop, where you’ll get to try making your own solos to some well known standards on keyboard instruments! Paul will take the group through two standards, showing different ways you can improvise to your favourite tunes. For those who would like to observe, you can also try playing in the rhythm section on untuned percussion - this will be the week’s biggest jazz jam session!

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CLASS 11: Machi Ishida - Beyond The Stage: What Does It Mean To Make Your Music?

1:45pm - 2:45pm
Participants to bring: Note-taking device or book to write in.
Topics: Mindset, performance, lecture
When we go through big changes in life, we often start to ask ourselves, “Who am I?” or “What do I really want to do?”. Thanks to the Internet, we can now learn about many different jobs and ways of living. And because of new technologies, it’s even possible to start a business on your own. Having many choices seems like a good thing, but it can also make it harder to decide what to do if we don’t know what’s really important to us. Machi wants you to think together about what it really means to “make music” and hopes that this will help you find your way of connecting with music in the future.

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CLASS 12: Kana Omori - Beyond the Notes: Finding Your Voice on the Marimba

3:00pm - 4:00pm
Participants to bring: Mallets and note-taking device or book to write in
Topics: Performance, marimba, interpretation, technique, musicality, interactive
Coming to us all the way from Japan once again, Kana Omori is not only a seasoned virtuoso concerto soloist with many awards to her name, she is also an avid composer (she composed our compulsory work Yambaru Kuina for this year, as well as Uguisu Kagura last year) and is the only person to have been a Faculty Artist in every edition of Marimbafest since the first one in 2019! In this session, we’ll look at how to go beyond just playing what’s written on the score and start discovering your own musical voice on the marimba. Kana will also talk about how phrasing, changing tone colors, and personal interpretation can help bring your music to life.

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