Category: Latest News

I recently wrote and premiered a new solo piece for orchestra chimes.  The YouTube video can be found here with more info.  Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/69a19NF0BVc

Hanging with Pius Cheung and Marja Kerney at the Innovative Percussion booth. Congrats to Pius on the awesome new marimba mallets!

PASIC 2013 was an incredible success.  Thanks so much to all of the many folks involved who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make this event happen every year.  Congrats to Bill Sallak and the New Music / Research Committee on an incredible series of Focus Day concerts and to the Percussion Ensemble Committee for the wonderful selection of ensembles from all over the country.  I was honored to attend my first meeting at PASIC as a new member of the Percussion Ensemble committee and I’m looking forward to working with them in the future on many continuing projects and some new ideas.

So good to see old friends and make some new ones.  Baljinder Sekhon’s new work for Percussion Ensemble entitled “Refuge” was a standout among the many fine world premiere pieces at PASIC this year; not to mention the expert performance by Indiana Universities’ Percussion Ensemble (congrats John Tafoya and Kevin Bobo!).  Great to see old friends Casey Cangelosi and Pius Cheung at the Innovative Percussion booth and check out their incredible new marimba mallets.  Congrats to you both!  Looking forward to next year’s convention.

The UMD Percussion Ensemble featuring percussion students Robby Bowen (BM), Paul Keesling (MM), and Eric Plewinski traveled with Dr. Lee Hinkle by invitation to perform at the McCormick Marimba Festival in Tampa, FL at the University of South Florida February 8-9.  The students were each featured as soloists at the event and the group performed an hour length concert of marimba music including movements from Elliot Cole’s Posludes for Bowed Vibraphone, Takemitsu’s Rain Tree, and Villa-Lobos’s String Quartet No. 3.  I performed Stuart Saunders Smith’s marimba opera The Authors on a special concert with the composer present and premiered a composition by Zachary Konick (BM Composition and Percussion) entitled Weaving for solo marimba.

I had a chance to stick my head into the Springs Theatre too while I was in town.  It was great to see the space and John Stephan again. It’s been years since I’ve been to the Springs, but it is by far my favorite recording studio and a very cool space.

I spent the weekend with friends and colleagues at Wright State University in Dayton, OH for the 2013 American Innovators Festival at Wright State University.  We celebrated the music of Stuart Saunders Smith through a series of lectures, paper presentations, and performances.  I presented a paper entitled “Theatrical Music for Solo Percussion” and performed Smith’s The Authors.  What an incredible event!  I learned a lot.  Thanks to Stuart and Sylvia Smith, Franklin Cox, Wright State University Percussion Studio, Gerry Noble, and my sponsors Innovative Percussion and Remo Drumheads!

Dr. Hinkle has been invited to join the fine roster of artist endorsers with Grover Pro Percussion.  Seasoned professionals, educators, and producers the world over consistently demand Grover Pro Percussion for their unparalleled sound, artisan craftsmanship, and world-class customer service.

Check ’em out!  Thanks Neil!

Today I finished up mastering / editing the first half of my first solo CD “Theatrical Music for Solo Percussion.”  I’ve got about 35 minutes in the bag and about about the same amount left to record.  So far I’ve got Stuart Saunders Smith’s The Authors and Georges Aperghis’s Le Corps a Corps.  Next sessions will be in January at which time I’ll be recording Dan Adam’s work for solo vibraphone and metal percussion with spoken and sung voice entitled Of a Just Content, Stuart Saunders Smith’s work Tunnels, and my new work for solo vibraphone entitled Vibratissimo. 

The University of Maryland Percussion Ensemble has been invited to collaborate with the Congressional Chorus for their November 11 concert at the Church of the Epiphany downtown Washington, DC. The ensemble will be featured on works for chorus, dancers, and percussion. More details can be found at the Congressional Chorus website.

Dr. Lee Hinkle has been invited to play percussion for the season with the 21st Century Consort; the resident new music ensemble at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Thanks to a National Endowment for the Arts grant you can listen to any 21st Century Consort concerts at their website where you can also find more information about the ensemble and purchase tickets for upcoming concerts.

Dr. Hinkle will be cycling across the country this summer on the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail. The trail was established in 1976 for Adventure Cycling Association’s celebration of the U.S. bicentennial. To this day, it remains one of the most used bicycle routes in the world.

You can follow Dr. Hinkle’s adventures here.

Headed out on the 4,241 mile epic journey!