Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Music Department will host their 7th annual Percussion Festival on Friday, January 18, and Saturday, January 19. A free concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, January 18, featuring guest marimba artist and award-winning composer Nathan Daughtrey. The concert will be held in the Hughes Recital Auditorium in Presser Hall on the UMHB campus and is free and open to the public.

Dr. Daughtrey will also teach a master class to area percussion students on Saturday, January 19, in Hughes Recital Hall. Both events are free and open to the public.

Described as “fresh and imaginative,” (Percussive Notes), Daughtrey’s band and percussion works are quickly gaining international recognition with performances at educational institutions of all levels, festivals/contests, and music conferences around the world. Many of his original works and arrangements are becoming standards in the repertoire, including “Limerick Daydreams” for percussion ensemble or symphonic band, “Shock Factor” for percussion quintet, and “Strange Dreams” for clarinet/alto saxophone and marimba.

His numerous awards include 1st Place in the 2000 Southeastern Composers’ League Philip Slates Competition for “Episodes for Solo Piano,” and 2nd and 3rd Place in the 2004 Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest for his large percussion ensemble works “Limerick Daydreams” and “Adaptation,” respectively. Dr. Daughtrey also has commissions extending well into 2008. His works have been performed at the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic, the Percussive Arts Society International Conference, the International Double Reed Society Conference, the Asian Symphonic Band Competition in Bangkok, and several Music Educators Conferences and Days of Percussion around the United States.

Dr. Daughtrey is also active and sought after as a solo marimba artist and clinician. With “dazzling virtuosity, [Daughtrey] plays with awesome skill, projecting emotion, power, and awe in his interpretation” (Classical Voice North Carolina). His performances have taken him across the United States, Eastern Europe and Japan. He has appeared as featured soloist with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, and several university orchestras across the U.S.

His first CD, “Spiral Passages” was released in 2001 and featured original and transcribed works for solo marimba, as well as accompanied works. Daughtery’s performance of McCarthy’s “WarHammer” from his CD was recently featured on National Public Radio’s All Songs Considered program. He is currently working on his second CD, “Strange Dreams,” which will feature Emma Lou Diemer’s marimba concerto, several of his own compositions, and more. Nathan is a performing artist and clinician for Yamaha and Vic Firth sticks and mallets.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information about the concert and the master class, please contact Dr. Stephen Crawford at the UMHB Music Department at 254-295-8664.