PASIC 2007 Attracts Thousands Of Drummers And Percussionists In Columbus
The International Drum & Percussion Expo was one of the largest in recent PASIC history, with over 135 exhibitors representing eleven countries that occupied more than 118,000 square feet of exhibit space.
Program highlights included an entire day of presentations and performances focused on the solo timpanist and evening concerts throughout the weekend that featured French keyboardist Emmanuel Sejourne, Canadian percussionist Ann-Julie Caron, Trio Manari with congeuro Giovanni Hidalgo and American steel pan pioneer Andy Narell.
Other exciting events included a round-table discussion with six drummers that played for the jazz fusion band Weather Report and drumset clinics by Dave Weckl, J.J. Johnson, Grant Collins, Brann Dailor, Peter Erskine and Alex Acuña.
Drumset pioneer Warren “Baby” Dodds, composer Steve Reich and classical percussionist Anthony Cirone were inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame at a banquet on Friday evening. They joined 93 others in the PAS Hall of Fame whose lives have dramatically impacted the percussion world.
Others that were honored at the banquet were Fernando Hashimoto, Outstanding PAS Service Award; Ruben Alvarez; Outstanding PAS Supporter Award; John Wittmann, PAS President’s Industry Award; Antonio Santangelo, PAS Outstanding Chapter President Award and J.C. Combs, Johnny Lee Lane and Erwin Mueller were honored as recipients of the Lifetime Achievement in Education Award. Flower Mound High School received the Fred Sanford Award for having the highest ensemble score in the PASIC Marching Percussion Festival.
New to the PAS Listening Room this year were ten iPod stations that contained all of the archived recordings of past and present winners of the PAS Composition Contest. The addition of the iPod stations to the PAS Listening Room provided attendees with an easier way to discover new and emerging percussion composers and repertoire.
PASIC 2008 will return to Austin, Texas Nov. 5-8 at the Austin Convention Center. Artist applications for PASIC 2008 are being accepted online at the PASIC website through December 17, 2007.
For more information, plus photos and video clips from PASIC 2007, visit www.pasic.org/Archives/2007/index.cfm.