Selected Student Bios

• Jeremy Lowe

  Jeremy Lowe is currently pursuing his Masters of Music degree in Classical Percussion under the instruction of Professor Jonathan Haas.  Prior to NYU, Jeremy received his Bachelors of Music from Rowan University, where he studied with Dean Witten.  During his undergraduate years, Jeremy got a chance to attend and play at master classes with world renowned percussionists such as Anthony Orlando and Don Liuzzi of the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as John Beck and William Cahn.  Jeremy has had an extensive performance career playing in multiple musicals both at Rowan and as a hired pit musician for high school shows.  At NYU, Jeremy performs with the NYU Marimba Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Steel Drum Ensemble, and Repertory Orchestra.  Jeremy looks forward to the great opportunities and education available at NYU and throughout New York City.

• Andy McBeath

  Andy McBeath is currently pursuing a Masters of Music Degree in Instrumental Performance at NYU Steinhardt, studying under the instruction of James Saporito, Simon Boyar, and Jonathan Haas.  He holds a Bachelors of Music Degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he studied under the instruction of William Moersch and Ricardo Flores.  In addition to classical percussion Andy has studied West-African Drumming with Moussa Bolokada Conde, Balinese Gamelan with I Ketut Gede Asnawa, Afro-Cuban Drumming and steel pan with Ricardo Flores, as well as organ with Dana Robinson.  He has performed at the Bali Arts Festival, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the Chicago Jazz Showcase, and the Chicago Symphony Center.  A favorite past time of his is watching the Chicago Cubs.  He is a firm believer that next year will be the year.

• Jeffrey Eng

  Jeffrey Eng is a percussionist and drummer born and raised in New York City.  He is currently a senior pursuing his Bachelors Degree in Music at New York University's Steinhardt School.  In the classical percussion department, Jeffrey studies with Jonathan Haas, Simon Boyar, James Saporito and Josh Quillen; previously, he has worked with Ethos Group member Trey Files, percussionist Jan Williams, and established composers Javier Diaz, Andrew Thomas, and Morton Subotnick.  Jeffrey is a founding member of the howl (theory) percussion trio, as well as the co-founder and drummer of folk band Random Avenue.

• Carson Moody

  Carson Moody is in his first year of graduate study in the Percussion Studies department at NYU Steinhardt. He is currently focusing in the Percussive Theater Arts program in which he will contribute to his education by studying and learning to work with performers in other mediums of the performing arts. Carson received his Bachelor's of Music in Percussion from The Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio in 2010 under the instruction of Dr. Susan Powell and Joe Krygier. Carson is a founding member of the Overground Percussion Group, plays with the multimedia music/ visual art group, Shin Tower Music, and has danced in Columbus with the San Francisco based choreographer, James Graham.

• Tai-Jung Tsai

  Tai-Jung Tsai  is currently pursuing her M.M. in Instrumental Performance at NYU Steinhardt, studying under Prof. Jonathan Haas and Simon Boyar. She holds a B.A. degree in Music Performance from National Tainan University of the Arts in Taiwan. While at Tainan University of the Arts, Tai-Jung was a student of percussionist Prof. Teh-Wa Shih. She has studied Chinese music and been influenced by many styles of music including Chinese(Stringed & Woodwind ensemble, Beiguan Wind and Percussion ensemble, Chinese Orchestra), Indonesian(Gamelan ensemble), as well as both classical and contemporary forms of Western music. She has taken additional master classes with several artists including Stefon Harris, members of So Percussion,Christopher Lamb, She-E Wu, Frank Epstein, and Wes Crawford.

• Jacqueline Russo

  

  Jacqueline Russo is currently pursuing her B.M. in Classical Percussion from NYU Steinhardt under Professors Jonathan Haas and Simon Boyar. She has also studied with Kory Grossman and Josh Quillen of So Percussion. Before coming to NYU, Jacqueline attended the Pre-College Division at the Juilliard School. She has taken part in the NYU Broadway Percussion Seminar/Summit as well as the first annual So Percussion Summer Institute at Princeton University. Jacqueline actively collaborates with performers and composers from NYU and in the greater New York area. She is a member of a percussion trio that came to fruition in the summer of 2009. Most recently, Jacqueline was invited to play at Merkin Hall in the spring of 2010 as part of the NYU Takemitsu Project.

• Danielle Fortner

  Danielle Fortner (b. 1989) is a junior studying classical percussion and drum set in New York University's Steinhardt School of Education.  Born and raised in Longview, Washington, she studied for seven years with Portland percussionist, Tom Sessa.  Pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music Performance, she currently studies with Jonathan Haas, Simon Boyar, James Saporito, and Josh Quillen.  Dani has worked individually and in master classes with many distinguished percussionists including Benjamin Herman, Douglas Howard, Thomas Stubbs, Michael Rosen, Chris Lamb, Naoko Takada, Chris Deviney, Wilson Torres, Joe Tompkins, Stefon Harris, and with members of So Percussion.

  In the summers of 2006 and 2007, she attended the Aspen Music Festival and School where she played in all five of the festival orchestras and worked under well-known conductors, such as David Zinman, James Conlon, James DePreist, and Leonard Slatkin.  Recently, she was accepted into the Rome International Summer Music Festival in Rome, Italy, where she spent the summer of 2010 under the direction of Fritz Maraffi and Carol Nies.  With a love for theater and a vast interest in exploring musical theater orchestrations, Dani has been involved in various musical productions in both Steinhardt and in the Tisch School of the Arts.  These include King David, Company, Once on This Island, Children of Eden, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Gone Missing, Reporting Live, and she is currently working on upcoming productions of Nijinsky in Asylum and Nine.  Dani hopes to continue her studies in music performance by pursuing a Masters Degree in the future and to incorporate her musical theater background, as well as her experience with orchestral, chamber, and solo music into her career.

• Paul Frucht

  

  Paul Frucht studies percussion as well as music composition at NYU Steinhardt. Originally from New York, he grew up in Danbury, CT. In high school, he studied percussion with Al Montecalvo while playing in the Danbury Symphony Orchestra. He was also selected as an All State percussionist. At NYU, he studies percussion with Jonathan Haas and Simon Boyar while studying composition with Justin Dello Joio. In two years at NYU, Paul has played with the NYU Percussion Ensemble, NYU Marimba Ensemble, NYU Steel Drum Ensemble, NYU Brass Choir, NYU Community Orchestra, and the NYU Symphony Orchestra. He has written for both the NYU Percussion Ensemble and NYU Marimba Ensemble. Later in 2009, the NYU Marimba Ensemble will premiere his work, "Fading Distance" for double string quartet, bass, and mallet percussion quartet. Earlier in 2009, Paul was asked to make an arrangement of Philip Glass's "Prelude to End Game." Originally for timpani and string bass, Paul arranged the piece for 15 percussionists. The piece was featured as the final in 2009 version of CoMotion and will be featured in a concert presenting a series of works by Glass arranged for Percussion Ensemble to be put on by the NYU Percussion Ensemble in 2010. This past summer, Paul interned with Robert Miller, a well-known New york Composer who writes concert music, film music, and writes music for many commercials. In September of 2009, Paul won the NYU Percussion Concerto Competition playing Eric Ewazen's "Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra" He will be playing the piece with NYU Repertory Orchestra in October of 2009. He has also studied and/or worked with well-known composers and percussionists such as Josh Quillen, Javier Diaz, Ian Finkel, David Smith, Joe Passaro, Andy Thomas, and Eric Ewazen.