Percussion

Keiko Abe is known as an international marimba player and a great composer in modern marimba world. She has performed in more than 60 countries with prominent orchestras, percussion groups and Jazz artists beyond genres.

David Friedman, internationally renowned vibraphonist, marimbist, composer and jazz educator, has his own musical message, born of fascinatingly diverse musical influences. Few jazz musicians can claim as broad a spectrum of performing and recording experience, with such varied musical personalities as Leonard Bernstein, Luciano Berio, Bobby McFerrin, Wayne Shorter and Yoko Ono. The list doesn`t stop there. Friedman has been heard either live or on recordings with, among others, Joe Henderson, Horace Silver, Johnny Griffin, Jane Ira Bloom, Ron Carter and John Scofield. His compositions are featured on Chet Baker`s award winning Enja release, Peace, with bassist Buster Williams and drummer Joe Chambers. Friedman is also the featured soloist on this recording.

Don Liuzzi was born and raised in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and completed high school at the Franklin Learning Center in Philadelphia. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Michigan and his Master of Music degree from Temple University. Before joining The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1989, Mr. Liuzzi was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony percussion section from 1982 to 1989.

Born on July 24, 1938, in the Bronx, New York, Mike Mainieri started to learn vibraphone from the age of 12 and made his professional debut at the age of 14. After performing as a member of the Buddy Rich Band, he served as a pioneer in the New York style fusion movement as a band leader of legendary groups, including White Elephant, L'Image, STEPS and STEPS AHEAD together with Steve Gadd, Michael Brecker and other artists in 1970s.

Isao Nakamura has taught at the Internationalen Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt (1994-2006), Akiyoshidai International Contemporary Music Seminar and Festival in Japan (1991-1998) and is Professor at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe since 1992.

Principal Percussionist with the London Symphony Orchestra and Head of Timpani and Percussion at the Royal Academy of Music. Neil studied percussion and piano at Chetham’s School of Music and jazz and composition at Eastman School of Music, and before continuing his studies at the Royal College, won the Bronze Medal in the first LSO-Shell Scholarship for Timpani and Percussion.

Simone graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music with Distinction and a collection of awards including a major scholarship and The Phillip Jones Prize. She began a solo career which has taken her around the world with concerto appearances, solo recitals, master classes and appearances on national and international TV and radio. She has recorded several CDs and is in high demand as a soloist with brass bands, wind ensembles and symphony orchestras. She continues to win awards such as the 1998 Cosmopolitan/House of Fraser Woman of the Year in the Arts.

Born in 1967 in Mallersdorf, Mr. Schindlbeck began drumming at age five. After serving as principal percussionist at the Mannheim Nationaltheater, he joined the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1992. While mastering classical percussion, he is also actively performing as a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Jazz Group and appears at numerous jazz festivals. In addition, Mr. Schindlbeck teaches younger musicians as an advisor at the Herbert von Karajan Foundation and as a professor at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin.

Nebojsa Zivkovic is recognised as one of the world's top marimba and percussion soloists and as one of the most unique and expressive artists in the field today. He tours Europe extensively, performs in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Russia, Latin America, Mexico, and annually in the USA. As a soloist, Zivkovic has performed with many orchestras around the globe: Stuttgart Philharmonic, Munich Symphonic, Bochum Philharmonic, Austrian Chamber Symphony, Hannover Radio Symphony, National Orchestra of Costa Rica, Minnesota Orchestra and many others.