51社区

Roger Braun is Professor and Director of Percussion Studies at 51社区. His prior teaching appointments include the University of Michigan-Flint, Albion College, Interlochen Arts Camp, and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where he served as Associate Professor of Jazz Studies and Percussion from 1991-1997. In addition to teaching all areas of percussion, Professor Braun has taught university courses in jazz performance and history, music technology, music theory, and American popular music.

Braun's performance experience demonstrates great diversity and spans the idioms of contemporary, classical, jazz, popular, and world music. He has performed with many well-known and diverse artists including Keiko Abe, Lyle Mays, Kathleen Battle, Billy Taylor, Bob Mintzer, and Ghanaian master xylophonist Bernard Woma. His performances can be heard on CD recordings that highlight his breadth of skills in contemporary percussion ensemble, straight-ahead jazz, and classical chamber music. As a classical percussionist, Braun has worked with many notable conductors and orchestras, including principal percussion positions with the Lansing and Ohio Valley Symphonies. As a freelance musician he has been in demand throughout the Midwest and performed as percussionist for Broadway touring show productions including Beauty and the Beast, Titanic, and Ragtime. Additionally, he is an active performer of African, Afro-Cuban, and Brazilian music. Braun is a founding member of Biakuye, an African music and dance ensemble; solo marimbist/percussionist in Los Viejos Blanquitos, a Latin jazz ensemble; and member of the New World Percussion Duo. In the Spring of 2003, he performed with marimbist Keiko Abe and the percussion quintet, Galaxy, in a three-week tour of Japan.

Educational Background:

M.M., Percussion Performance, Eastman School of Music; B.M. with Highest Honors, Percussion Performance, University of Michigan