PRESIDENT
Thad Anderson is a member of the percussion faculty at The University of Central Florida. In addition to the percussion area, he also teaches courses in music composition and technology. Furthermore, Dr. Anderson currently serves as artistic director of the Cage Percussion Players; an ensemble dedicated to the performance of historic American percussion ensemble repertoire.
Active as a solo, orchestral, and chamber musician, some of Dr. Anderson’s performance credits include Days of Percussion in Florida, Texas, Idaho, and Oklahoma, the Texas Music Educators Association convention, Percussive Arts Society International Convention, Victoria Bach Festival, Austin Chamber Music Center, Round Top Festival-Institute, Austin, Waco, and Brevard Symphony Orchestras, and as a guest soloist with Conspirare and the Monroe Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Anderson specializes in the creation and performance of new music through commissioning and by collaborating with composers. Some of these projects have produced new works by Zack Browning, Paul Lansky, Halim El-Dabh, Jonathan Kolm, and Travis Jeffords, to name a few. Also active as a composer, Dr. Anderson wrote and recorded the soundtrack for the award winning documentary film Standard Deviation. Universal Edition, +Two Media, Santa Barbara Music, and C.F. Peters are currently publishing some of his compositions and adaptations.
VICE-PRESIDENT
John Shaw has been the principal percussionist with The Florida Orchestra since 1996, and a member of the orchestra’s percussion section since 1992. A native of Milton, Florida, Shaw earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Florida State University, where he studied with Gary Werdesheim, and a Master of Music degree from Temple University as a student of Alan Abel. He has been featured as a soloist with The Florida Orchestra many times, performing the Concerto for Percussion by Joseph Schwantner, Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussion by Bela Bartók, and Veni, Veni, Emmanuel by James MacMillan. His eight-member steel drum band, the Tampa Bay Steel Orchestra, was featured with The Florida Orchestra in both March 2005 and October 2009 as part of the orchestra’s pops series.
In addition to his duties with The Florida Orchestra, Mr. Shaw has been the head of the percussion studio at St. Petersburg College since 1996, directing the Percussion Ensemble and Steel Drum Band as well as teaching applied lessons.
Shaw has been a faculty member of the Eastern Music Festival since 2008, and performs regularly on the festival’s chamber music series. He is currently the vice-president of the Florida chapter of the Percussive Arts Society, and presented a masterclass on orchestral percussion at the society’s 2010 International Convention. Mr. Shaw is an artist/endorser for Zildjian cymbals and Encore mallets. He lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Florida Orchestra principal harpist Anna Kate Mackle, and their three children.
SECRETARY
Marja Kerney has performed as a percussionist/timpanist with the Kansas City Symphony, Kansas City Ballet, Wichita Symphony, St. Joseph Symphony, West Shore Symphony, Midland Symphony, and Greater Lansing Symphony. She was also a member of Marimba Sol de Chiapas, an authentic Mexican marimba quartet based in Kansas City, and is currently the Adjunct Professor of Percussion at Stetson University, where she teaches Applied Percussion, Percussion Methods and directs the Percussion Ensemble.
A native of Michigan, Ms. Kerney received her Bachelor of Music degree in percussion performance from Michigan State University, where she was a student of Dr. Alison Shaw and David Hall. She received the Master of Music degree in percussion performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City where she is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Dr. James Snell. Ms. Kerney is an active member of the Percussive Arts Society, having held positions as the Midwest Representative on the Collegiate Committee and as Secretary of the Florida chapter of PAS, and remains active as a free-lance percussionist and timpanist.
TREASURER
John Evans is in his 19th season with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra. He received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Ohio State University and a Master of Music degree from Temple University, where he was a student of Alan Abel.
Evans has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Columbus Symphony, and has served as timpanist/ principal percussionist with the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus. He has appeared as soloist with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, the Naples Philharmonic Baroque Ensemble, the Knightwind Ensemble of Milwaukee and the Ohio State University Symphony. In 1986, he won the Drum Corps International individual mallet competition.
Evans is currently treasurer of the Florida chapter of the Percussive Arts Society, a position he has held since 1997. He is the founding organizer of the Percussion Summit series.