YAMAHA MARKS 30 YEARS AS SUPPORTING MEMBER AND SPONSOR OF PASIC

Yamaha 2011 PASIC Exhibit

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Yamaha Corporation of America celebrated 30 years of sponsorship of the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC). This year’s gathering also marked the non-profit Percussive Arts Society (PAS) PAS 50-year anniversary promoting percussion education, research, performance and appreciation throughout the world. PASIC 2011 was held November 9-12 in Indianapolis.

The event drew approximately 5,100 attendees, including 43 Yamaha artists who took part in Yamaha-supported clinics over the course of the show. An additional 80 Band & Orchestral artists and 15 Pro-Audio & Combo musicians appeared at the event.

"For more than three decades, Yamaha has stood with PASIC in its mission to promote all aspects of the percussive arts,” says Roger Eaton, Marketing Director, Yamaha Band & Orchestral Division. “We look forward to continuing this valued relationship for decades to come."

Yamaha also awarded its annual PAS/Yamaha Terry Gibbs Vibraphone Scholarship to Jason DeCristofaro, a Master’s student at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston, Salem, NC at the event. An accomplished vibraphonist, percussionist, composer and educator, DeCristofaro graduated Summa cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from Brevard College in 2010. The $1,000 scholarship is awarded annually to a talented full-time student and PAS member registered in an accredited college or university school of music for the following academic year.

Yamaha also awarded three prestigious educator awards to Ed Soph, James Sewrey and James Petercsak.  The award is known as the Yamaha Lifetime Achieve Award in Education. Soph, a long-time Yamaha Artist Clinician and accomplished performer, is currently a professor in the Jazz Studies and Performance division of the College of Music at the University of North Texas. Sewrey is in his 30th year as a percussionist with the Waukesha Area Symphonic Band, and a founding member of PAS, has a long career as an instrumental music educator to children of all ages as well as collegiate-level adults and beyond. Petercsak is head of the percussion area at the Crane School where he teaches applied percussion and directs the award winning Crane Percussion Ensemble. He is also a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, University Scholar, and a UUP "SUNY Best" award winner.

In keeping with PASIC’s spirit of percussion education and advancement, along with hosting educational clinics, Yamaha also introduced some of its latest in band technologies at the show. Some of the new products exhibited include: the 900 Series Concert Toms, Club Custom Drum Set, Rock Tour Drum Set, Custom Marching Series Drums, the DTX700 and DTX500 series and the DTX-MULTI 12 multi pad.

Yamaha has been a sustaining member of the Percussive Arts Society since 1981 when drum sets were first displayed. Yamaha orchestral percussion began showing products at PASIC in 1984.

PASIC is the largest percussion event in the world, featuring over 150 concerts, clinics, master classes, labs, workshops, panels, and presentations. The finest artists from all over the world are invited to present and perform at PASIC. The program showcases all areas of percussion, including drum set, marching, keyboard, symphonic, world, recreational, education, music technology, new music and health and wellness.

For more information about Yamaha products, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; call (714) 522-9011; email infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com.