Brian Mason

Professor of Music, Percussion Coordinator
Area(s): Administration, Percussion

Education

• D.M.A., University of Kentucky
• MM, University of Nevada
• B.M., University of Kentucky

Profile

Dr. Brian S. Mason is a Professor of Percussion and Coordinator of the Percussion Studies Program, overseeing the percussion ensembles, MSU Steel, and the award-winning marching percussion ensemble featured on the vicfirth.com web-based instructional video series Marching Percussion 101. He has been a member of the Percussive Arts Society Board of Advisors, Past President of the PAS KY Chapter, is Associate Principal Percussion with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, is Principal Percussion for the Cave Run Symphony Orchestra, and appears as a guest artist with high school and university percussion ensembles across the US. Among his many accolades, he is the recipient of the MSU Distinguished Teacher Award, the MSU Distinguished Faculty Service Award, the KMEA College/University Teacher of the Year Award, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Boyle County High School.
 
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 most 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. 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, Majestic Percussion, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Zildjian cymbals, Evans drumheads, Black Swamp Percussion, and Etymotic Hearing Protection, and his original works and arrangements are published through Row-Loff Productions, Tap Space Publications, and Bachovich Music Publications.