Posts By: Bob Becker

Recent composing

Posted by

I had a very intense spring season, with NEXUS performances in California, Arkansas, Georgia, Ohio and New York, as well as extended solo tours of my own in Ohio, Indiana and Arizona. Usually I am unable to compose while traveling, and also I find it difficult to work creatively on writing projects without having at… Read more »

2014 Events

Posted by

March 7, 2014. Workshop, Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, ON. Host, John Rudolph. April 15, 2014. Guest soloist/composer with RU Percussion Ensemble, Radford University, Roanoke, VA. Host, Rob Sanderl. April 18 – 19 , 2014. Workshops and concert performance with  Lamar University Percussion Ensemble, Beaumont, TX. Host, Travis Fife. April 21, 2014. Guest soloist, Oak… Read more »

2013 Events

Posted by

January 16, 2013. Percussion clinic and masterclass, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH. Host, Tom Freer. January 19, 2013. Clinician and Featured Performer for Ohio Day of Percussion, Wright State University, Fairborn, OH. Host, Jerry Noble. For more information contact: jernoble3@yahoo.com. January 25, 2013.  Xylophone clinic and orchestral masterclass, Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, ON. Host,… Read more »

2012 Events

Posted by

February 27, 2012. Xylophone workshop and masterclass, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. Host, Jim Babor. March 20 – 21, 2012. Clinician and guest performer with TU Percussion Ensemble, Troy University, Troy, AL. Host, T. Adam Blackstock. March 28 – April 2, 2012. Residency with workshops and concert featuring compositions by Becker, G. H…. Read more »

Answers to questions about the beginning of NEXUS

Posted by

In December, 2011 I received a request from Yale graduate student Victor Caccese to answer a few questions about how NEXUS began and developed. VC: Mr. Becker, I mainly wanted to ask you about the start of NEXUS with your first performances in 1971. Even though all of its members have accomplished a great deal… Read more »

The Drag/Ruff Dilemma

Posted by

In May, 2011, John Wooton sent an email to many of his drumming friends and colleagues. In it he posed some questions about how to name a basic and historic rudiment. One of the first to respond was Dennis Delucia. There has followed a very interesting and entertaining email debate and discussion about this topic,… Read more »

Answers to questions about New-thaan

Posted by

In March, 2010, I received a request from graduate student Bruce Salyers to answer some questions about my drum solo New-thaan, which is included in NEXUS Portfolio for Snare Drum, published by HoneyRock. Bill Cahn recently posted his answers to similar questions about some of the pieces in Portfolio, and so I thought it might… Read more »

September in Japan

Posted by

I spent nearly the entire month of September, 2010 in Japan. I arrived in Osaka on the 5th and immediately began rehearsals with NEXUS and the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra. Maestro Yutaka Sado conducted the program, which featured NEXUS performing Toru Takemitsu’s From me flows what you call Time, and Gustav Holst’s The Planets…. Read more »

2011 Events

Posted by

April 4 – 5, 2011. West African Drumming clinic and soloist with OBU Percussion Ensemble, Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, AR. Host, Dr. Ryan Lewis. Click here for more information. April 7, 2011. Guest soloist/composer with Eastman Percussion Ensemble, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. Host, Michael Burritt. April 19 – 23, 2011. Workshop and soloist… Read more »

Tenth Annual Ragtime Xylophone Institute, 2010

Posted by

The tenth anniversary session of the Bob Becker Ragtime Xylophone Institute was held from August 2 through 7, 2010 at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE. This year’s participants, left to right in the photo, were: Mike Correa, Paul Bernard, Dwayne Corbin, Chris Hogan, Ryan Lewis, Bob, Harvey Price, Julia Ross, Mike Franklin, Sam… Read more »

Reviews

Posted by

The Hakodate (Japan) Newspaper, September 23, 2010 (download PDF) Translation (by Yurika Kimura): The world-renowned percussionist Bob Becker was featured as a guest artist in a concert presented by the Hakodate Percussion Festival on the evening of September 22 at the Hakodate Performing Arts Center. His performance enveloped the audience in an atmosphere of charming… Read more »

Super Percussion – Tokyo Music Joy, 1988

Posted by

Garry recently posted on YouTube three excerpts from a concert called Super Percussion, presented as part of the Tokyo Music Joy festival in 1988. It was the fourth annual Music Joy festival, produced by Toru Takemitsu and Koinuma Music, and sponsored by the Seibu-Saison Group in Tokyo. The four-day festival was organized around a jazz… Read more »

Posted by

Naples (Florida) Daily News, March 31, 2005 (download PDF) This was a unique review for me – my tailor received a better write-up than I did!

Spring Activities, 2010

Posted by

On April 1, 2010 I was able to spend a day at the Malletech Company facilities in Neptune, NJ. I had discussions with Leigh Stevens regarding the new Malletech rosewood snare drum stick line, and in particular the design for my signature model (these should be appearing soon). We also discussed some new publications, and… Read more »

Posted by

Reviews of Music On The Moon (download PDF) Reviews of my orchestra piece, Music On The Moon, from Toronto, ON (Esprit Orchestra) and Norfolk, VA (Virginia Symphony).  

×