Cangelosi has appeared as a performer and clinician at some of today’s most recognized festivals including the Piteå Percussion Repertoire Festival in Piteå, Sweden; the 2010 International Marimba Festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and the 2011 Zeltsman Marimba Festival in Appleton, Wisconsin. He has received numerous composition awards from the Massachusetts Percussive Arts Society, Sam Houston State University, and the Classical Marimba League. He has been commissioned for new compositions by request of the University of Delaware, Texas Christian University, Utah State University, California Institute for the Arts, Rice University, The Percussive Arts Society, and many individual interests. Casey has won several performance awards from academic institutions as well as the Percussive Arts Society; he is also a MTNA National Young Artist. Casey Cangelosi is proudly sponsored by ProMark, Majestic, Mapex, Remo, Beiner Bags, and Zildjian.
Florian Alexandru-Zorn
Florian Alexandru-Zorn is a full-time instructor, musician and author. He is specialized in brush playing, world music and jazz.
Florian was born in August 1984 and began playing the drums at the age of 8 in a local traditional german drum corps. At the age of nine he got his first modern drum lessons.
His musical career began in the progressive rock genre with bands such as Concrete Floor. At the age of 18 Florian was touring with Romuald Erenc (one of the most renowned jazz and classical guitar players in Poland) and his band through Poland and Germany.
Other projects Florian is involved with include: Jazz Quadrat (Jazz/World), Christoph Neuhaus Quintet (Jazz), Ken Kenay (Hip Hop). He has also worked with the european masterclass big band, conducted by Peter Herbolzheimer.
Florian has done many workshops and clinics in support of his brush book "Die Kunst des Besenspiels" (The Art of Brush Playing). He is also a workshop author for the German drum magazine "Sticks".
Norman Weinberg
Norman Weinberg is Professor of Music and the Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Arizona. He has performed as the principal timpanist/principal percussionist with the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra and as principal timpanist with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Evansville Philharmonic, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, and the Leonard Bernstein Festival Orchestra. Currently he performs with the Arizona Opera and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. These, and additional musical experiences, have given him the opportunity to perform under the batons of David Amram, Enrique Batiz, Luciano Berio, Leonard Bernstein, Gary Bertini, Ogan D'Narc, Cornelius Eberhardt, Lukas Foss, Alberto Ginastera, Christopher Keene, Cal Stewart Kellogg, Igor Markevitch, Neville Marriner, Yehudi Menuhin, John Nelson, Daniel Oren, Krzysztof Penderecki, Jose Serebrier, Robert Shaw, George Singer, Leonard Slatkin, Walter Susskind, and many others.
Norm has performed and presented seminars at many regional, national, and international conventions including the Texas Music Educators Association Convention, The Texas Association of Music Schools Convention, the Tennessee Wind Ensemble Conference, the Ontario Celebration of the Drum, the Day of Percussion Festivals in Arizona, California, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah, the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia National Convention, the Rhythm Sticks Festival in London, the Toronto 2000: Musical Intersections conference, and four Percussive Arts Society International Conventions.
A prolific author, Norm has published over 250 articles in journals including: Drum!, Modern Drummer, Drums and Drumming, Rhythm, Percussive Notes, Percussive Notes Research Edition, Keyboard Magazine, Music and Computers,The Instrumentalist, and Home Recording Newsletter. He currently holds the position of Contributing Technology Editor for Drum! magazine, and served as the Technology Editor for Percussive Notes for 12 years. In addition, he has several compositions published by Southern Music Corporation. His text, The Electronic Drummer, is a part of the Modern Drummer Library and is distributed by Hal Leonard Publishing. His most recent book, Guide to Standardized Drumset Notation, has set a world-wide standard and is published by the Percusssive Arts Society. Both books are distributed by Hal Leonard Publications.
Educational achievements include the prestigious Performer's Certificate from Indiana University, where Norm received the Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance with Honors and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He has studied with several outstanding teachers during his career including George Boberg, Jerry Carlyss, George Gaber, William Roberts, Ben Udell, Gary Werdesheim, Charmaine Asher Wiley, and William Zickos. Norm is a Yamaha Performing Artist, a Vic Firth Artist, a Zildjian Educational Clinician, a Grover Pro Percussion Artist, and a Remo Gold Level Endorser. In 1992, Norman was the featured soloist with the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra, performing the United States Premiere of Bertold Hummel's Konzert fur Schlagzeug und Orchester, op.70.
Norman created and helped to establish the "World Percussion Network" which later became pas.org. At PASIC '94, he was given the "Outstanding Service Award" from the Percussive Arts Society. In 2000, Norman was invited to present the Keynote Address at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention's New Music Research Day. The address was titled Turn On-Plug In-Groove Out. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Percussive Arts Society from 1998-2004. In 2002, Norman was honored to be the recipient of the Maestro Award from the University of Arizona School of Music, awarded in recognition of his students' outstanding achievements.
Raul Rekow
Except for a two-year hiatus at the end of the ‘80s, Raul Rekow has been an integral part of the Santana Band since 1976. Joining their ranks was a dream come true for the San Francisco native who, as a teenager, first witnessed Carlos and company onstage at the Cow Palace, appearing second to last on a mammoth bill of twenty acts. The life-changing experience inspired Raul to take up congas, and he soon began playing with Soul Sacrifice, a popular late ‘60s/early ‘70s Bay Area club band specializing in Santana covers. That led to his joining Malo, the Latin funk-rock outfit -- featuring Carlos' brother Jorge Santana on guitar—that had a huge crossover hit in 1972 with "Suavecito." A stint with Sapo, another Latin fusion act followed, and then came the call from the Santana office, asking Raul to jam with Carlos and Tom Coster. Soon after, Carlos invited Raul to join the band, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Over the years, Raul has also lent his talents to recording and performing with artists including Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle, Whitney Houston, Tremaine Hawkins and Herbie Hancock. He has a ‘Signature Series' conga drum and bongo made by Latin Percussion, and along with fellow Santana percussionist Karl Perazzo, recently completed the CD "Just Another Day In The Park," and the video/interactive DVD "Supernatural Rhythm and Grooves," where students and fans can play along with Raul's magical beats.
Karl Perazzo
Karl Perazzo since the age of 2 has played some kind of drum or other. At age 7 he played in a band that his mother and father formed. From there he became unstoppable and went on to play with Cal Tjader while only in the 6th grade.
Karl Perazzo, born and raised in San Francisco's Mission District, has gone on to play with the best in Pop, Jazz, Rock and Latin Music. The self-taught musician is currently playing with the Santana Band. He has recorded 3 albums with Santana, one being a Live album in South America.
He has also recorded and played with Malo, Jorge Santana, Cal Tjader, Dizzy Gilespie, Andy Narrel, Ray Obiedo, Tom Coster, Pete and Coke Escovedo, Dennis Chambers, Sheila E., The Artist, Mariah Carey, Paquito D' Rivera and is on the latest John Lee Hooker album. Latin Music, such as Tito Puente, Machete, Ruben Blades and others. Perazzo is not only known nationally, but internationally as well. He is known to have recorded with some of the best acts in Japan and Italy.
In addition to all of the above, Karl has also performed on an array of TV shows, such as American Bandstand, Soul Train, Solid Gold, Jay Leno, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, The Grammies, The American Music Awards, and was the first percussionist to be invited to sit in with The Arsenio Hall Show house band on more than one occasion, and to perform on his 100th show.
Aside from all this Perazzo still finds the time to travel the country doing clinics for the Latin Percussion Music Group. He strongly believes that the knowledge he has is not his to keep, but to be shared with people around the world!
Samba Fogo
Drawing on rich Afro-Brazilian traditions and mythology, Samba Fogo fuses Brazilian dance, fire dance, and the Afro-Brazilian martial art of Capoeira, all choreographed to live music, creating a unique, exciting and culturally rich choreographic style.
Samba Fogo Music and Dance Company is a professional 17-member company, breaking down into smaller companies for specific tours, presenters, or events. Samba Fogo is an extremely versatile company, able to perform and teach in a variety of settings for a variety of budgets, from outdoor festivals to professional proscenium theatres. Samba Fogo residencies and performances draw on four elements: Afro-Brazilian and contemporary dance, live music, capoeira, and fire dance. Drawing on these four elements, Samba Fogo can build performances and residencies to best fit a particular presenter’s community, venue, and budget.
Samba Fogo Community Group, the community component to Samba Fogo, has existed as a community performing arts group in Salt Lake City since 1990, originally operating under the name “Samba Gringa”. This local performance group has always held a very strong connection to community, and over the years, directors and members of Samba Fogo Community Group have taught and facilitated Brazilian and Afro-Brazilian music and dance in numerous schools, programs, and universities in Utah and surrounding states, and performed in countless local events and festivals.
Samba Fogo’s high-energy performances and residencies offer communities the chance to experience the deep-rooted culture, infectious enthusiasm, and celebratory spirit that makes Brazil famous.