PAS Percussion Ensemble Competition & Festival
at Utah Valley University
Saturday, March 7, 2026
Hosted by Shane Jones
Utah Valley University
800 W. University Pkwy
Orem, UT 84058
PAS Group Member
$200
Non-PAS Group Member
$250
Learn more about becoming a PAS Group Member here.
Registration will open at Noon Eastern on Monday, December 8th, and competition spots are expected to fill quickly. Space at each event will be limited, so directors should plan to reserve their spot as soon as registration opens in December, and have their group membership processed ahead of time (if seeking the member discount). All events are first-come, first-served. Only one registration per school/organization will be accepted up until one month prior to the chosen event.
Judges
Abby Fisher
Abby Fisher is a percussionist and educator, focused on performing and supporting continued growth of new music, with expertise in contemporary and classical percussion. National and international performances include: Stony Brook University’s TEDx, Transplanted Roots Percussion Symposium, New Music Gathering, Big Ears Festival, Percussive Arts Society International Convention, One World Trade Center, Universidad de Guanajuato (Mexico), and at universities around the US. Abby is a co-founder of the percussion duo Fisher/Lau Project with Matthew Lau, and she regularly collaborates with composers and musicians on new works. In February 2025, she released her debut solo album 100 works in resonant aluminum by D. Edward Davis through CMNTX records, and will be releasing a second solo album titled Continuous Interior through Neuma records in 2026.
Abby is a dedicated educator and serves as the Steven Hemphill Endowed Professor of Percussion, Assistant Professor of Percussion, and Director of Percussion Studies at Northern Arizona University. She currently serves as the President of the Arizona Percussive Arts Society chapter, and as a co-chair for the Percussive Arts Society Percussion Ensemble Committee. She is a member of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, NAU’s premier contemporary music group Ensemble Flageolet, and a regular performer and board member of the Interference Series, a non-profit Flagstaff-based organization dedicated to presenting experimental music.
Abby is supported by Marimba One, Black Swamp Percussion ,Vic Firth, and Zildjian.
Alex Stopa
Australian-born Alex Stopa is an Emmy award-winning drummer, percussionist, and composer. Praised for his “wonderfully creative musical instincts, dazzling technique, and high-octane stage presence” (Scott Stevens, New York Metropolitan Opera), he has performed extensively across the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Mexico, Singapore, France, Belgium, Japan, and Hong Kong.
He is a uniquely versatile performer, equally at home in a classical concert hall, jazz club, rock show, musical theatre pit, or large-scale Cirque du Soleil production. His original compositions and arrangements reflect this diversity. Drawing inspiration from classical, jazz, pop, rock, world, and other eclectic styles, his music blurs the lines between genres and is performed frequently around the world.
He regularly performs with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Nevada Ballet Theater Orchestra, and Cirque du Soleil’s KA. He has performed with artists including Aretha Franklin, The Who, Andrea Bocelli, Idina Menzel, Plácido Domingo, Seth MacFarlane, Donny and Marie Osmond, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Amy Grant, and Evanescence. His production credits include Le Rêve, Cirque du Soleil’s Zarkana, Wicked, The Lion King, Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular, and the Latin Grammys. He also played drums for the rock group Big Talk (the solo project of Ronnie Vannucci from The Killers), with whom he performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! In 2016, a series of short plays inspired by the music of his group The Silver State were performed at Lincoln Center in New York City.
A dedicated educator, Dr. Stopa is passionate about inspiring musicians of all ages and currently serves as a part-time instructor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Alex Stopa endorses Sabian Cymbals, Majestic Percussion, Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets, and Remo drumheads. His works are published by Tapspace.
Additional Information
Questions? Please email membership@pas.org
