Percussion at UW Green Bay
Dr. Cheryl Grosso has been a member of the Music faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay since 1985. She teaches studio percussion, contemporary percussion ensemble, new music ensemble, hand drumming ensemble, music theory, and world music. Prof. Grosso has served as Interim Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Music Chair, and Chair of Communication and the Arts. She was recently awarded the honorable Frankenthal Professorship. Dr. Grosso studied western percussion with John Bergamo, Karen Ervin, Ron George, Thomas L. Davis, and Tele Lesbines. She studied non-western percussion with artists Pandit Taranath Rao, Amiya Dasgupta, Alfred and Kobla Ladzekpo, Sowah Mensah, Michael Spiro, and K.R.T. Wasitodiningrat.
Dr. Grosso remains active as a percussion soloist, chamber musician, composer, and clinician. She has twice performed live on Wisconsin Public Radio and is a founding member of the innovative percussion quartet Olio. Her classical compositions for contemporary percussion are published by Smith Sonic Arts Editions and Studio 4 Publishing. Her method book, Hand Drumming Essentials, and a volume of her compositions, Hand Drumming Ensembles, are published by Alfred Music Publishers. Dr. Grosso’s incidental music for the David Ives play All in the Timing won a Kennedy Center ACTF Award of Merit and her original score for the graphics short film Wire Waves was awarded first place in its category by the California Filmmakers Association. The UW-Green Bay Hand Drumming Ensemble, which she founded and directs, regularly performs at schools and festivals throughout Wisconsin.
