DAVID COSSIN is a specialist in new and experimental music. David has worked across a broad spectrum of musical and artistic forms to incorporate new media with percussion. 

David Cossin has recorded and performed internationally with composers and ensembles including the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Steve Reich and Musicians, Philip Glass, Yo-Yo Ma, Meredith Monk, Tan Dun, Cecil Taylor, Talujon Percussion Quartet and the trio, Real Quiet.  Numerous theater projects include collaborations with Blue Man Group, Mabou Mines, and director Peter Sellars. David was featured as the percussion soloist in Tan Dunâ™s Grammy and Oscar winning score to Ang Leeâ™s film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  Most recently, David joined Sting for his world tour, Symphonicities with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

David has performed as a soloist with orchestras through out the world including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestra Radio France, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Sao Paulo State Symphony, Sydney Symphony,  Gothenburg Symphony,  Hong Kong Symphony, and the Singapore Symphony. 

David ventures into other art forms including  curator for the Sound Res Festival, an experimental music festival in southern Italy. David teaches percussion at Queens College in New York City.  

DR. DOMINIC DONATO is a percussion soloist, chamber musician, composer and teacher. He is a member of the DoublePlay Percussion Duo and a has been staff percussionist for the Composers Conference at Wellesleyn College for the past 20 years.  He has performed in New York, Rome, Amsterdam, and in Paris for the French premiere of Iannis Xenakis' Percussion Concerto, Omega. He premiered James Tenney's Song 'n' Dance for Harry Partch with the SWR Symphony Orchestra at the Donaueschingen Music Festival and was featured soloist for Iannis  at the Gulbenkian Festival in Lisbon, Portugal.

In May 2001 Dominic presented his first concert of all tamtam music (TAMTAM I) which became the inspiration for his "Music for Tamams" Project. It featured James Tenney's Having Never Written a Note for Percussion and two versions of John Cage's One4 along with new pieces by Helen Lee and himself. He has commissioned and performed a number of compositions featuring tamtams from a number of very talented composers including Peter Jarvis, Stuart Jones, Elizabeth Hoffman, Eric Moe, Steven Ricks and Ushio Torikai. He has also written a number of pieces that feature tamtam, most recently using the Electrix Repeater as a means to expand the possibilities in live performance. In 2006 he presented a second full concert of all tamtam music (TAMTAM II) which featured new works by Jarvis, Jones, Ricks and himself as well as James Tenney's For Percussion Perhaps, Or…(night). Last year Dominic released "METALMORPHOSIS," the first CD of his "Music for Tamtams" project, on Capstone Records. Upcoming premieres include new works written for Dominic by composers Barbara White, Maxwell Dulaney, Xi Wang, and Seung-Ah Oh.

In 2007, Dr. Donato was selected by Meet the Composer as one of eight"Soloist Champions."  He directs the Percussion Department and Ensembles at Purchase College, SUNY. For more information please visit: www.musicfortamtams.com and the Purchase College website:  www.purchase.edu.

Percussionist TOM KOLOR specializes in 20th and 21st century music, and holds a Master’s degree from the Juilliard School. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University at Buffalo.    

Mr. Kolor appears throughout the United States and Europe as a member of Talujon Percussion, Manhattan Sinfonietta, Ensemble 21, Sospeso, American Modern Ensemble and Newband.  In addition, he is a frequent guest of such ensembles as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New York New Music Ensemble, Speculum Musicae, Continuum, Da Capo Chamber Players, Group for Contemporary Music, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

As a soloist, he has given dozens of premieres by such composers as Milton Babbitt, John Zorn, Wayne Peterson, Tania Leon, and Jerome Kitzke. He has recorded for Bridge, New World, Albany, Capstone, Innova, Wergo, Naxos, CRI, Koch, Tzadik, North/South Consonance, and Deutsche Grammophon labels.

For more information on the University at Buffalo visit:  www.music.buffalo.edu

Percussionist Michael Lipsey has performed at festivals in Bali, London, Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin, Mexico City, Taipei, Macao, Tokyo, La Jolla, New York, Moscow, Bogota and France. Michael is the founding member of Talujon Percussion and has also performed with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, Steve Reich, Bang on a Can, Tan Dun, New York New Music Ensemble and Riverside Symphony.  He has recorded for Sony Records, Red Poppy Records, Nonesuch, Albany, Capstone and Mode.  Michael has performed throughout the world and given master classes at numerous schools including the Juilliard School of Music and California School of the Arts.

Michael has also worked with many musicians from around the world, most recently including  Gamelan Dharma Swara, a Balinese gamelan located in New York City.  He performed with DS at the first American gamelan at the PKB in Denpasar, Bali. He has worked with musicians Subash Chandran, Ganesh Kumar, Glen Velez, Carlos Gomez, Antonio Hart, Roland Vasquez, and River Guerguerian.  His book and solo CD contains recently commissioned works for solo hand drums by Jason Eckardt, River Guerguerian, Mathew Rosenblum, Arthur Kreiger, Eric Moe, Dominic Donato, David Cossin and David Rakowski. The book is available at :http://store.calabresebrothersmusic.com/08-00209.html  and the recordings at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/michaellipsey.

Michael is a full-time Professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at CUNY, Queens College and Director of the Percussion Program and the New Music Ensemble.

MATT WARD is dedicated to performing and commissioning new music and has been cited by the New York Times as “a fine soloistâ€�.  With a particular interest in chamber music, he is a principal player with the Argento Chamber Players, Talujon, and is also the co-founder of the percussion trio Timetable.  Mr. Ward also performs regularly with groups such as the Manhattan Sinfonietta, the American Modern Ensemble, Associated Solo Artists, Albany Symphony and the Riverside Symphony. Mr. Ward was the recipient of the Ridley-Tree Fellowship at the Music Academy of the West in 1998, and in 1999 he participated in the Tanglewood Music Center under the direction of Seiji Ozawa and George Benjamin and returned the following year for the American Premiere of Pierre Boulez's Sur Incises at the 60th Anniversary TMC Alumni Concert.  Recent projects include the American Premiere of Philippe Hurel's percussion concerto at Merkin Hall, and the premieres of two new works for percussion by Elizabeth Hoffman.

Matt Ward began studying conducting as the student director of the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players and in residence at the Bang On a Can Summer Music Festival.  Since then, he has premiered new works by Phillipe Manoury, Lawrence Moss, Ross Bauer, Meyer Kupferman, Barbara White, Sebastian Armoza and many other young composers.  He is also a regular guest conductor with the International Contemporary Ensemble and Ensemble Inc.

Mr. Ward holds a BM degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a MM degree from SUNY Stony Brook, where he is currently a Candidate for his DMA.  He is on faculty at Queens College and at the Bloomingdale School of Music where he directs the percussion ensemble and conducts student and faculty ensembles.  Through organizations such as the 92nd Street Y, Westchester Philharmonic, and Marquis Studios Mr. Ward has worked with elementary school children throughout New York City and the surrounding area.  He can be heard on the recording labels Argo, Newport Classics, Soundspell, and Albany Records.