Instructor Bio

Wesley Strasser

email: wstrasser@greenville.k12.sc.us

             Wesley Strasser has been playing drums and percussion since age eight, when he began taking drum lessons from Ron Schwartz in downtown Greenville, South Carolina. While in high school, Wesley attended the Fine Arts Center where he studied with Gary Robinson, performed as the principal timpanist of the Young Artists Orchestra, and graduated as the Sheffield Wood Scholar.  Wesley also spent seven years performing with the Carolina Youth Symphony under the batons of Jim Kilgus and Leslie Hicken. He was featured as a marimba soloist with both YAO and CYS during his tenure.

Wesley holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Central Florida where he studied with Jeff Moore, Kirk Gay, Thad Anderson, and Marty Morell. During UCF’s performance at the 2014 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis, he was featured as steel pan soloist.

      Wesley also holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California. At USC, he had the privilege of working with Joseph Pereira, James Babor, and Peter Erskine. In addition to performances with the USC Orchestra, Wesley performed as an auxiliary percussionist with Bob Mintzer’s Thornton Jazz Orchestra, and was a member of the USC Percussion Group, the school’s resident percussion ensemble.  As a part of this group, he performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall as a part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella event “Noon to Midnight” in October 2016 and 2017. While in Los Angeles, Wesley served as Principal Timpanist for the American Youth Symphony and the Debut Chamber Orchestra, two orchestras comprised of young professional and student musicians in the LA area. In June 2018, he served as a Fellow at the Texas Music Festival, performing weekly with the TMF orchestra in Houston. 

As a teacher, Wesley currently holds the position Director of Percussion at the Fine Arts Center of Greenville, SC. At FAC, he teaches percussion classes and lessons, runs the FAC Percussion Ensemble, and coaches the jazz and commercial music ensembles. In addition, as part of his FAC post, he works with the drummers and percussionists at each of the 14 high schools and many of the middle schools in Greenville County by running sectionals for marching and concert bands, giving run-out concerts and masterclasses, filming instructional content for the band directors and students, and helping students prepare for All-State auditions. Wesley was also featured as a guest faculty member at the UCF Percussion Summer Institute in July 2018, and has presented clinics at UCF and at the Greenville County Schools All Arts Day. Since 2019, he has also served as the Director of Instrumental Music at Covenant Church.

In addition to his new appointment as a member of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra percussion section, Wesley has performed with professional orchestras across the United States including the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Symphony Orchestra (NC), Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, and Spartanburg Philharmonic. Wesley is a member of the Zildjian education team.