PAS to Host Percussion Ensemble Competitions and Festivals Beginning in 2024

For immediate release – October 11, 2023 

For more information, contact: Joshua Simonds, Executive Director, PAS, jsimonds@pas.org

PAS to Host Percussion Ensemble Competitions and Festivals Beginning in 2024

Registrations open Monday, December 11, 2023

Indianapolis, Ind. – The Percussive Arts Society (PAS) today announced that it will host five percussion ensemble performance competitions and festivals beginning in 2024. These competitions will be held in person around the United States.

“PAS is excited to create more performance opportunities for our high school and middle school percussion ensembles,” said PAS Executive Director Joshua Simonds. “As well as to give those performers and directors the chance to receive clinic feedback from renowned performers and educators.” 

PAS will initially host five competitions in 2024 around the U.S., with a goal of expanding to ten events, possibly including international locations, in 2025. These ensemble events are a natural expansion of the PAS-sponsored ensemble program, which also includes the annual PAS International Percussion Ensemble Competition (IPEC), where three universities, three high schools, and one middle school percussion ensemble are invited to perform at PASIC, and the Concert Chamber Percussion Ensemble competition held each year at PASIC.

“We are thrilled at PAS to continue to develop educational and interactive experiences for middle school and high school students with the launch of this percussion ensemble initiative,” said Julie Davila, President, PAS Board of Directors. “While numerous competitions offered during PASIC are revered as elite experiences, our goal is to offer more programs for student participation throughout the year and to broaden the geographical scope. A prime mission at PAS is to develop opportunities that boost student engagement and ignite passion for percussion ensemble while also providing educational resources for educators.”

The new ensemble competitions and festivals will take place beginning in the early spring of 2024. All events will be presented by PAS. The 2024 locations and dates are:

• North Texas Percussion Festival hosted by Forney ISD presented by Percussive Arts Society North Texas Percussion Festival presented by PAS, at Forney High School in Forney, TX, February 23-24 
• University of Tennessee Percussion Festival presented by PAS, March 1-2
• PAS Percussion Ensemble Competition and Festival at the University of Missouri, March 9
• Southeastern Percussion Ensemble Symposium, an Affiliate Regional Festival of MFA, presented by PAS, at Walton High School in Marietta, GA, April 12-13
• PAS Percussion Ensemble Competition and Festival at Portland State University, April 19-20

“I am thrilled that we are launching the new Percussion Ensemble Competition across the country. PAS has a long history of encouraging and promoting the highest level of artistry and education in chamber percussion performance through IPEC and the Chamber Percussion Competition at PASIC,” said Michael Burritt, Immediate Past President, PAS Board of Directors. “The chamber idiom has always been at the heart of my teaching. My hope is that this new initiative will provide a unique and high-level platform to grow the percussion community and support the many outstanding percussion programs throughout the country.”  

Space at each event will be limited, so directors should plan to reserve their spot as soon as registration opens. Specific information about each event will be available soon.