Portland State University Percussion

We had SUCH an amazing trip to the 2026 Northwest Percussion Festival!

Thanks to our amazing friends at .percussion for being incredible hosts, and to all of our new friends from around the Northwest for sharing such beautiful music with us!

.percussion

Congrats to studio members Skyylar Pyren (), Preston Hinduja (), and Isaac Brusse () for a great performance at the Championships yesterday with !

Awesome job and we’re rooting for you at the upcoming championships in Dayton, Ohio!

Congrats to the entire studio on an epic Music concert today!

Thanks to everyone who came and shared this program with us! We can’t wait to bring it to the Northwest Percussion Festival next weekend!

Thanks to our good friends at and their directors Sam Ormson and Mark Claassen for inviting us as Featured Performers at the Larry Gooken Invitational Band and Orchestra Festival!

We had a blast performing music by and , and especially for such an enthusiastic audience!

Congrats to everyone in the studio for fantastic performances last week with the Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble to cap off an awesome Winter quarter!

We can’t wait for some fun upcoming repeat performances!

Our Percussion Literature cohort gave some insightful presentations in studio class today on 21st Century Percussion works, including music by , Alejandro Viñao, Paul Lansky, and ! So much fun to hear, and hear about such incredible recent additions to our repertoire!

We had SUCH a great masterclass with this week! Thank you to the whole ensemble for your generosity of spirit, and for sharing your ears and immense musicianship with us! It was so much fun to share music together, and especially to hear your insights about Chavez’s classic work “Toccata.”

Thank you to for connecting us with this opportunity! It’s one we won’t forget!

We're so excited to welcome Tambuco Percussion to PSU for a masterclass today!

In their native Mexico and worldwide, Tambuco is known for its unique repertoire and breathtakingly vibrant performances. From body percussion, to sticks and stones, to modern percussion instruments, Tambuco's approach to sound and rhythm is virtuosic, visceral, and extraordinarily enjoyable.

With over 25 years of international concerts and recordings, Tambuco is one of the finest percussion quartets performing today. Among many honours and awards, they are the first non-Japanese artists to receive the Japan Foundation Award for Culture. Tambuco has toured across Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the United States and Canada. Recently, they toured with the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra in the great concert halls of Europe, featuring Javier Álvarez's percussion concerto, and they showcased at the 2018 WAA conference.

2019 sees Tambuco premiering Gabriela Ortiz's Los Angeles Philharmonic commission Yanga, for orchestra, choir, and percussion ensemble, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel to celebrate the orchestra's centennial year. They will also headline at PASIC in Indianapolis and will hold the Jean Wentworth Music Residency at Sarah Lawrence College. Tambuco is also touring for the Season 2024-2025 in the United States for engagements with LAPhil, at Carnegie Hall, with Plano Symphony and for the Library of Congress.

Check out this great article about our recent recording release!

Thanks to Portland State University School of Music & Theater the College of the Arts for all of their support, and a special thanks to Portland State Vikings athletics for letting us make some noise in the Viking Pavilion last year!

PSU Percussion Brings a New Pulse to the Court Basketball and percussion came together in the spring of 2025, when the PSU Percussion Ensemble took to Viking Pavilion to record their fifth music video, featuring Luis Rivera’s Aprés Rebonds (After Rebounds in French). Released in September 2025, the video feels especially timely now, as PSU ba...

Major congrats to Senior Music Education Major Jack Lattimore on a wonderful degree recital today! Wonderful program, and beautifully performed - way to go Jack!