Clinicians

 

2012 Guest Clinicians:

TBA

 

Faculty: 

Brandon Putzke

Music Specialist, Liberty Magnet Elementary

Percussion Director, Vero Beach High School 

Mr. Putzke is a native of Michigan but calls Vero Beach "home."  He is a 1990 graduate of Vero Beach High School during which time he was an avid band member and percussionist. Mr. Putzke received his bachelor of science in music education from the University of South Florida.

While pursuing his degree, he taught private lessons and gave numerous clinics for several Florida schools including Vero Beach jr./sr. high school, River Ridge HS, Venice Beach HS, and Plant HS.

In January of 2000, Brandon and his family returned to Vero Beach where he joined the teaching staff of Indian River County. he taught the VBHS orchestra for 1 semester, spent 2 years at Sebastian Elementary, served as clinician for Sebastian River High School, and is currently the music specialist at Liberty Magnet Elementary and the percussion director for Vero Beach High School.

His elementary and high school ensembles have continually received superior ratings at contests. Liberty's Eagle Orff Ensemble and chorus are two-time grand champions at the Music USA Festival in Orlando, have made two appearances at the Kennedy Space Center and have performed at Epcot. The Liberty chorus most recently performed at the capitol building in Tallahassee in the spring of 2009. The Vero Beach Percussion Ensemble has earned superior ratings at the Florida Bandmasters Association district solo and ensemble for the past 8 years and performs for hundreds each year at the Evening of Percussion Concert at the VBHS Performing Arts Center. He has also composed and arranged music for the VBHS percussion section and has been published in the national subscription of Music Express Magazine and Music K-8.

Mr. Putzke has recorded several cd's with his elementary and high school groups and with professional talents from all over the state. He has performed with a number of orchestras, bands, choirs and solo acts, and performs regularly with local bands, such as Old Barber Bridge and the Vero Beach orchestra, as well as several theatrical productions at area theatres and churches including Riverside Theatre, the VB Theater Guild, and Theatre- Go- Round Dinner Theatre.

Mr. Putzke is a current member of the Florida Music Educators Association (FMEA), Percussive Arts Society (PAS), the co-founder/director of the Treasure Coast Percussion Camp (TCPC) and has received his National Board Certification. He is a proud endorsee of Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets.

Mr. Putzke was the 2010 Teacher of the Year for Liberty Magnet and enjoys teaching music to students from kindergarten through college.

 

Dr. Mike Sammons

Professor of Percussion, University of South Alabama 

Michael Sammons currently serves as the Director of Percussion Studiesat the University of South Alabama and performs with the Mobile Symphony.  He is a founding member of Zumbumba, an active percussion trio specializing in music from around the world.  Most recently, Zumbumba presented anoriginal composition, Foforo Twene, for timpani and African percussion as part of the 2007 Percussive Arts Society International Convention's "Focus Day" in Columbus, Ohio.  Mr. Sammons has performed with orchestras in Arizona, Florida, and Alabama. He appeared as a guest soloist for the Music Educator’s National Convention, Southern Division Conference in January of 2005and in 2004, served as a guest performer for the Crested Butte Summer MusicFestival in Crested Butte, Colorado.

As an educator and clinician, Mr. Sammons served as a Lecturer in music and sabbatical replacement at Clemson University in 2007-2008.  He currently serves as the co-founder (2005) and director of the Treasure Coast Percussion Campheld in Vero Beach, Florida. He is a member of the Percussive Arts Society and is a contributing author to PercussiveNotes. He has been an adjudicator for the Arizona Chapter of the PercussiveArts Society and Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association marchingband festivals. In 2006, Mr. Sammons presented a ession entitled "New Music for Steel Band" at PASIC in Austin, Texas with the University of Arizona and UT Austin Steel Bands and released the thirdCD by the UA Steel Band, “Panstraction”.

Mr. Sammons served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Director of the UA Steel Band Program from 2003-2007. He received the 2007 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant award for the College of Fine Arts, University of Arizona.  Mr. Sammons earned his Master’s of Music degree in Percussion from the University of Arizona in 2005, and a Bachelor’s of Music in Music Education and Performer’s Certificate from the University of Florida in 2002. His travels abroad includeTrinidad and Ghana, researching the traditional music and dance of thesecultures.  

Michael Sammons is a proud endorsee of Vic Firth, Remo, and Sabian.

 

Beran Harp

graduate student: University of South Florida

Beran Harp, a native of Vero Beach, FL, has spent the majority of his life pursuing and recording his musical interests. He is experienced in the fields of rock, country-western, jazz, latin, hip-hop and contemporary christian drum set styles, solo marimba, orchestral percussion studies, rudimental/marching style percussion, hand drumming/ethnic studies, and avant-garde music. Beran has studied with Robert McCormick, Brandon Putzke, Michael Sammons, Phil Summerall, Eric Goins, Ron Hughes and Brian Hamlin. Beran has taken lessons with Dr. John Shaw, Nancy Zeltsman and Fumito Nunoya.

Beran is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in music performance at Auburn University. In 2004, Beran traveled with the University of South Florida Percussion Ensemble to perform at the Focus Day for New Music at PASIC in Nashville, TN. With the McCormick Percussion Ensemble, Beran was the featured marimba soloist for the 2006 premier performance of the Daniel Adams piece "Concerto for Marimba and Percussion." He recorded this piece on the CD,"Marimba Concerti with Percussion Orchestra," on the Capstone Records label.

lessons with Beran have a focus on fundamentals and realistic playing situations such as the directive role of drums/percussion, music reading, drum tuning, microphone/recording techniques, equipment advice, and music theory.

Beran can be heard on the following recordings:

"Marimba Concerti with Percussion Ensemble" McCormick Percussion Ensemble

"Percussion Literature of Eun-Hye Park" Cheo Yong

"Culture Samples: Concerti for Flute with Percussion Orchestra" David Rogers

"Pipes and Drums" as the principal percussionist for the USF Wind Ensemble.