Momoko KAMIYA is a graduate of Juliard Music School and the winner of the 1995 Luxemburg International Percussion Competition, Marimba section.
Since 1990, she is giving the recital series "Kamiya Momoko Marimba Recital - Oto * Sorekara (Sound - and then...)". She has also played with Yomiuri Nihon Symphony Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmony Orchestra, etc. Has appeard in such programs like "NHK FM Recital", "Best of Classics (NHK FM)" etc. Her CD includes "Childrens of Dyonisis (Dyonisia)", "Marimba Coctail (Phillips)", "Arabesque (Phillips)". She is currently actively playing mainly as solo marimbist.
Apart from giving performances, she also teaches at Senzoku Gakuen University, Okinawa Kenritsu Geijutsu University, Aichi Kenritsu Geijutsu University. (Last Modified 1998.5.6)

Katarzyna Mycka was born in Leningrad, started playing percussion at the age of 16. Fascinated by the weath of different sounds, she began working intensively on the wide ranging percussion instrumentarium and its often very difficult repertoire. As soon as three years later the young musician had her first success - 1st prize in the Polish Percussion Competition in Opole. In the following year she was awarded a special prize as youngest participant at the Concours International d

Rin Ozaki is a marimbist and percussionist from Tokyo, Japan. She is a graduate of the Toho Gakuen School of Music where she studied with Keiko Abe and received degrees in marimba and percussion performance. Rin has studied with Gordon Stout in Ithaca NY, and also holds a master

Alex Jacobowitz was born in New York in 1960, and studied with Gordon Stout, L.H. Stevens and John Beck. He currently resides in Europe, where he performs marimba solo, primarily works of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.
In recent years, Alex Jacobowitz has played solo on German, Swiss, Israeli and Portuguese and Hungarian television and radio, and sold 50,000 recordings throughout Europe. His newest CD, "The Art of Xylos" (Arte Nova, BMG distribution) is a collection of highest-quality transcriptions, and is to be released worldwide on February 4, 2002. Although in 2001 he has performed the solo part to Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez and Vivaldi's Four Seasons with orchestra, he prefers to play unaccompanied.
His book,"A Classical Klezmer: Travel Stories of a Jewish Musician" (1998) sold out its first edition and is now in preparation for the second edition.
1981 - Won the Drum Corps International Competition for Solo Keyboard in Montreal, then premiered Edith Borroff's Concerto for Marimba and Small Orchestra.
In 1982-3, he played percussion with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, then decided to abandon percussion for solo marimba.
1984 - Two solo concerts at Lincoln Center
1986-91 - Official Street Performer at the South Street Seaport in New York City.
1991- 2001 Street performances & TV, radio broadcasts throughout Europe and Israel.
1998 - Autobiography published in German (A Classical Klezmer), 50,000 recordings sold
2001 - Performed Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez with orchestra, Record contract with Arte Nova, a classical label within BMG
(Added 1999.2.6, Modified 2002.2.16)

Linda Maxey began studying piano at the age of four and marimba at age six. Her first major performance was in Madison Square Garden in New York at the age of eleven when she performed for the Kiwanis International Convention. She was the first marimbist to be added to the prestigious roster of Columbia Artists Management in New York. She has been a featured soloist at the Percussive Arts Society International Conventions in Philadelphia and San Antonio. An accomplished arranger as well as performer, many of Ms. Maxey's transcriptions have been published by Southern Music Company. During the past 17 years, Linda Maxey has performed on hundreds of Community Concert series in almost every state of the union and has concertized in Canada and Europe. Her New York debut was in 1990 at the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall. She toured Lithuania in May, 1996, playing concerts with orchestras as well as performing at the Lithuanian Academy of Music in Vilnius.(Added 1999.11.12)

William Moersch is an Assistant Professor of Percussion (1998) and Chair of the Percussion Division
B.M. (with High Distinction) and M.M. (percussion performance), University of Michigan.wmoersch@uiuc.edu

William Moersch is internationally renowned as a marimba virtuoso, chamber and symphonic percussionist, recording artist, and educator. He has appeared as soloist with symphonic orchestras and in recital throughout North and South America, Europe, the Far East, and Australia. One of twelve international marimbists featured at the World Marimba Festival in Osaka, Japan in 1998, he is perhaps best known for his solo compact disc, The Modern Marimba, and for commissioning over the past twenty years virtually the entire prominent modern American repertoire for solo marimba. Recently appointed Assistant Professor and Chair of the Percussion Division at the University of Illinois, Mr. Moersch also created the graduate degree programs in marimba performance at the Peabody Conservatory and Rutgers University and has presented master classes throughout the world. A graduate of the University of Michigan, where he was a scholarship student of Charles Owen, Mr. Moersch was a free-lance percussionist in New York for over twenty years. He has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, New York City Ballet, New Jersey Symphony, American Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and as a featured soloist on numerous motion picture soundtracks. Currently, he is Principal Timpanist and Percussionist of Sinfonia da Camera and Principal Percussionist of the Bard Music Festival.
(Added 1997.6.12, Updated 1998.6.21, Update 1998.10.24, Updated 1999.01.10, Updated 2002.08.15)

Born on 16 November 1957, Rich O'Meara is fluent in a wide variety of musical styles. As a member of One Earth Percussion Theatre, with Joseph McIntyre and Michael Wingo, he took part in innovative multi-media performances. He has performed with the Contemporary Music Forum, the Lenox Ensemble, and the New York based Sky Music. He was featured as marimba soloist with the Women Composers Orchestra and under the direction of Michel Camilo, was a guest artist at the 1998 Latin-Caribbean Festival at the Kennedy Center. With the new music ensemble Amaranth, he premiered Puzzle Piece for three marimbas. He has composed many works for percussion and small ensemble, some of which are published by Music for Percussion and Marimba Productions. His piece for solo marimba, Restless, was required repertoire for the 48th International Competition in Geneva, Switzerland. He took second place in the 1999 Percussive Arts Society Percussion Composition Contest with looking at "r", for two marimbas. His compositions can be heard on the Audite Schallplatten and the Koch Discover International record labels. He has also spent time playing jazz on vibes, marimba, and MIDI percussion with the Bruce Middle Group and Millennium; and alternative rock as drummer for Kismet. He has served as part time music faculty at Goucher College and the Levine School of Music. He studied percussion with Randy Eyles, Gar Whaley, Ron Barnett, and Leigh Howard Stevens and received a Bachelor of Music in percussion performance from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. (Added May 6, 2001)

Marimba Sol de Chiapasis the quartet specializing in the musical traditions of Mexico and Central America via a beautiful and enchanting authentic instrument from Chiapas, Mexico. The first group of its kind permanently based within the United States and calling Kansas City home since 1991 (formerly as Marimba Yajal

Frederick Liessens is the principal percussionist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Composer/Arranger, specialist in Marimba, Vibraphone, Steel Drums. (Added 1997.6.12)

Rebecca Kite has been performing as a marimba soloist for twenty years, appearing in concert and in clinics across the United States and in Europe and Japan. Her music may be heard on her two solo marimba recordings, Across Time (1993) and Prism (1996). Kite has received two Master Fellowships as a marimba soloist from the Indiana Arts Commission and was a finalist in the 1986 Pro Musicus Competition.

Recent premieres of solo marimba works include Recurrences by Bruce Hamilton (1999), Jazz Suite for Marimba by Joan Griffith (1998) her own composition For Alice (1998) and Ilijash, by Nebjosha Zivcovic (1996). She has performed in such venues as Suntory Hall in Tokyo, The Kennedy Center, Vredenberg Hall in The Netherlands, and Sundin Hall in St. Paul, Minnesota as well as numerous colleges, high schools, art museums and Indiana state parks!

Kite is the author of "Reading Mallet Percussion Music", a method book for teaching music reading to young adult drummers. Other publications include "Which Mallets Should I Use", Percussive Notes, April 2000, "Keiko Abe: Her Quest for Marimba Sound" Percussive Notes, April 1998, "Tuning Your Marimba Resonators", Percussive Notes, December 1992, and "Using Calf Timpani Heads", Percussive Notes, December 1992.

Kite has been Artist in Residence at the Cultural Foundation for the Arts in Rio Negro Patagonia, Argentina (September 2000), The University of Miami School of Music (Fall semester 1999) and at SUNY Fredonia. She has appeared as both a marimba and timpani clinician and guest artist at numerous high schools and colleges in the United States and Japan, including Toho Conservatory, Interlochen, Indiana University School of Music, Ball State University, The University of Missouri at Kansas City, The University of Chicago and Kansas University.

Kite recently moved to the DC area of Northern Virginia from St. Paul, Minnesota where she lived for nine years and taught at the University of St. Thomas and Hamline University. In addition to her activities as a marimba soloist and teacher, she performed as a free-lance timpanist and percussionist with the Minnesota Opera, the Plymouth Music Series Orchestra, and other Twin Cities musical organizations.

Kite attended the University of Missouri at Kansas City where she received the BM degree in percussion performance. Her graduate work was done at the Indiana University School of Music where she studied with George Gaber and received the MM degree. She did advanced study in timpani with Cloyd Duff and in marimba with Keiko Abe.

Rebecca Kite served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Percussive Arts Society from 1994 through 1997. She is chair of the Marimba Committee and was co-leader of the WPN/PAS Web site Project for which she was awarded the 1999 PAS Outstanding Service Award. Kite is a member of the Educational Advisory Board of Pro-Mark Corporation and is a Yamaha Performing Artist. (Added 2001.11.22)