Dr. Brian S. Mason, Associate Professor of Percussion, coordinates the percussion studies program at Morehead State University in Morehead, KY. He directs the percussion ensembles, MSU Steel, and the award-winning marching percussion ensemble, featured on VicFirth.com's web-based instructional video series Marching Percussion 101 . He is a member of the Percussive Arts Society Board of Advisors, President of the KY Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society, Associate Principal Percussion with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra , Principal Percussion for the Cave Run Symphony Orchestra , and appears as a guest artist with high school and university percussion ensembles across the US.
A highly respected innovator of the contemporary marching percussion ensemble, Brian's career in the Drum Corps International activity spanned more than two decades, claiming two World Championships and three High Percussion titles, along with many other awards and honors during his tenure with the Cavaliers (1987-1996), Yamato (1997-1999), Phantom Regiment (1998-2002), and the Santa Clara Vanguard (2006-2010). He also serves as a member of the Winter Guard International Percussion Judge team, one of the more respected and highly regarded rosters of adjudicators in the marching arts. In high demand as a clinician, performer, arranger, composer, and adjudicator, Brian has appeared throughout the United States, Asia, Europe, Canada, and Mexico, and his compositions have been performed around the world.
Brian received his D.M.A. and B.M. as a student of James B. Campbell at the University of Kentucky, and his M.M. at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as a student of Dr. Dean Gronemeier. He is a member of the Vic Firth Education Committee and the P.A.S. Health and Wellness Committee, and the P.A.S. Marching Percussion Committee. Brian has published articles in Percussive Notes , has been interviewed in Modern Drummer and Band and Orchestra Magazine , and co-authored the 2000 Modern Drummer Readers Poll's "No. 1 Drum Set Method Book," The Commandments of R&B Drumming (Warner Brothers). Brian is a performing artist for Mapex Drums , and Majestic Percussion , Vic Firth sticks and mallets , Zildjian cymbals , Evans drumheads , Black Swamp Percussion , and Etymotic Hearing Protection , and his original works are published through Row-Loff Productions , Bachovich Music Publications , and Tap Space Publications.
