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Born October 29, 1960
in Cleveland, Ohio, Eugene Dominic Novotney received his Bachelor of
Music Degree in Percussion from the Cincinnati Conservatory
of Music and his Master of Music Degree & Doctor of Musical Arts
Degree from the University of Illinois with emphasis in Percussion,
Composition, and Ethnomusicology. In addition to his formal music degrees,
he has also studied traditional folkloric percussion idioms at the
Oficina de Investigacao Musical (Salvador, Brazil), the Academy of
African Music and Art (Kokrobete, Ghana), the Dagara Music Center (Media,
Ghana), and the National Theatre of Ghana (Accra, Ghana). He has studied
Classical Percussion techniques with Richard Weiner, Bill Youhass,
Allen Otte, and Thomas Siwe; Composition with Herbert Brün, Ben
Johnston, and Morgan Powell; Electronic Music with Jonathan Kramer
and Scott Wyatt; Anlo-Ewe Drumming with C.K. Ladzekpo & Bernard
Woma; Brazilian Percussion with Ze Riciardo Sousa; and Afro-Cuban Percussion
with David Penalosa, Sandy Perez, and Regino Jiminez. He has been a
member of the South Dakota Symphony, the Sioux City Iowa Symphony,
the Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Sinfonia da Camera, and the Cleveland
Chamber Orchestra, and has served on the faculty of the University
of Illinois and the University of South Dakota. Presently, he is Associate
Professor of Music at California State University-Humboldt, and is
the founder and statewide coordinator of the ‘Percussion in World
Music’ program for the California State University Summer Arts
Program. He was the first percussionist to win the Krannert Center's
Debut Soloist Competition, and has been awarded the Edgard Varese Percussion
Award from the University of Illinois and the Meritorious Performance
and Professional Promise Award from the California State University
system. He is a member of the Percussive Arts Society’s “New
Music/Research Committee,” and has organized and coordinated
numerous workshops and performances for the P.A.S. International Convention.
He is the founder of the Humboldt Calypso Band of Arcata, California,
and the I-Pan Steel Groove of Urbana, Illinois, and has performed in
Trinidad’s National Panorama Competition as a member of both
the Hummingbird Pan Groove of St. James and the Phase II Pan Groove
of Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain. In addition, he has served as a representative
and adjudicator for Pan Trinbago, the national governing body for the
advancement of folkloric music in Trinidad & Tobago. Most notably,
he was one of four scholars to adjudicate Trinidad’s World Steelband
Festivals in 1998 & 2000, and also, represented North America on
the adjudication panel of the 2000 European Steelband Festival held
in Paris, France. His recordings have been released on the Bembe, Delos,
SANCH, Pogo, Rituals and Earthbeat (Rhino) labels, and his compositions
and arrangements have been performed internationally. His works are
available through Smith Publications of Baltimore, Maryland and Panyard
Publications of Akron, Ohio.
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