Biography profile for Mary Emmons, Percussion

Biography

Mary Emmons is percussionist and educator currently based in the Greater Twin Cities Area of Minnesota where she serves as the Adjunct Professor of Percussion at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, as well as part of the Percussion Faculty at the MacPhail Center for Music. Mary previously served as Adjunct Professor of Percussion at St. Cloud State University. In addition to teaching privately at MacPhail, Mary is the co-director of the Rimshots! Percussion Ensemble, serves as the teaching artist for Music for Life’s Drumming for Memory Care Program and also serves as the IVI Department Assistant.

Most recently, Mary completed her Masters in Percussion Performance at the University of Missouri. Before coming to Missouri, Mary received her Bachelor’s in Music Performance from the University of Tennessee-Martin. It was at UT Martin where she found her passion for pedagogy, chamber music, and African Diasporic music. Prior to her appointment at CSB+SJU, SCSU, and MacPhail, Mary served as the Percussion Studio Teaching Assistant at Mizzou and maintained a studio of private students through the Community Music Program. In her appointment at Mizzou, she taught applied percussion, Percussion techniques, directed the Non-Major Percussion Ensemble, and co-taught the World Percussion Ensemble alongside Dr. Megan Arns. In addition to this, Mary taught music theory for the Missouri Symphony Conservatory and served as the Assistant Conservatory Coordinator. She has presented clinics and masterclasses at public schools and universities across Tennessee and Missouri.

As a performer, Mary has been seen with the Memphis Repertory Orchestra, the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, the 9th Street Philharmonic, the Columbia Civic Orchestra, the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, Opera Reading Project, VocalEssence, Great River Chorale, See Change Treble Choir, and the Missouri Symphony, and has participated in the NYU Broadway Percussion Seminar, the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, and the Nief Norf Summer Music Festival. Committed to the creation of new music, Mary has commissioned and premiered several new works, from composers including Stephen Downing, Gavin Kitchen, Maria Disandro, Luke Waddell, and Rain Michael. Outside of her formal studies at UT Martin and Mizzou, Mary has traveled to Ghana to study traditional music and dance at the Dagara Music Center in Medie and has worked with other master musicians such as Musekiwa Chingodza, Taffie Mature, and Othnell Moyo. When not teaching percussion, Mary enjoys hiking and exploring the outdoors with her partner and playing in their percussion duo LEFT / RIGHT.