Clinicians

Dr. Brian Zator is the Director of Percussion at East Texas A&M University and has been awarded the distinction of Regents Professor, the highest honor given to faculty in the A&M-System. As coordinator of the Percussion Studio, he oversees five Percussion Instructors, Graduate Assistants, and is responsible for the classical and marching percussion ensembles, "Panimation" Steel Drum Band, “Samba Leão” Brazilian Ensemble, undergraduate and graduate applied lessons, and the Percussion Pedagogy and Literature courses. He holds degrees from Baylor University, the University of Michigan and the University of North Texas. He is also a student of world-renowned marimba artist, Keiko Abe, having performed and studied with her in Japan. 

Dr. Zator has performed at seven Percussive Arts Society International Conventions (PASIC), conventions and festivals across the United States, at Carnegie Hall, and abroad in Brazil, Argentina, Japan, China, Australia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Poland, and Canada. He has two CD’s released on Equilibrium Records: “Zamiki: Music for Solo Marimba” and a chamber-works CD entitled, “Zoomorphs”. Dr. Zator was also named a Co-Winner for The American Prize in Instrumental Performance, 2021 (professional division).

Active within the Percussive Arts Society (PAS), he served as President of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors from 2017-2018. He was a member of the Keyboard and Percussion Ensemble Committees, has written reviews for Percussive Notes, is the founder of the PAS Leadership Academy, and has adjudicated the PAS International Percussion Ensemble, Composition, and PASIC Marimba Solo Competitions.

Dr. Zator and the East Texas A&M Percussion Ensemble are two-time winners (2023 & 2010) of the prestigious PAS International Percussion Ensemble Competition.  The ensemble also presented a concert at PASIC 2006, featuring works of Minoru Miki, and has released two CD’s since 2007. Dr. Zator has an instructional keyboard book, “Keyboard Fundamentals with Play-Along Tracks”, and several published keyboard percussion solo and ensemble works. 

Dr. Zator is proud to be a performing artist and clinician for Innovative Percussion, Sabian, Evans, Black Swamp Percussion, and Ensemble Block.

Conner Viets is a dynamic, multi-faceted percussionist active as an educator, soloist, chamber musician, and adjudicator. He currently serves as Instructor of Percussion at Murray State University where he teaches applied lessons, directs the percussion ensemble, and oversees the Racer Band marching percussion section.

An in-demand educator, Conner has appeared as a featured clinician at the East Tennessee State University Percussion Ensemble Festival and West Kentucky Percussion Festival, in addition to numerous universities and high schools throughout the Midwest and Kentucky Quad State regions. He has also served as a faculty member at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. His students have consistently earned placements in all-state and all-district ensembles, received superior ratings at solo and ensemble festivals, and gained admission to competitive undergraduate and graduate programs.

As a solo performer, Conner explores an eclectic blend of contemporary and canonical repertoire across a myriad of instruments. An ardent advocate of new music, he has commissioned or premiered more than 20 works, including collaborations with emerging composers such as Hippocrates Chang, Younje Cho, Kian Ravaei, Ariel Sol and Huan Sun. Recent highlights include performances at the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States National Conference (SEAMUS), National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy, and as a featured soloist with the Murray State University Wind Ensemble. Additionally, Conner was awarded 1st Place in the 2020 Black Swamp Collegiate Snare Drum Solo Competition.

Happiest when collaborating with others, Conner is the co-founder of CHannel2 Percussion Duo, an award-winning ensemble that has performed at the Nebraska Day of Percussion, TEDx UMKC Conference, North Star Music Festival, and on tours throughout the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas. He has also served as a core member of the Argos Percussion Collective and presented a series of recitals alongside Thomas Frost as the Frost-Viets Duo.

Conner is a Doctor of Music candidate at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he studies with Professors Kevin Bobo, Joseph Gramley, Andy Miller, and John Tafoya. He received his Master of Music degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he studied with Dr. Dave Hall. He received his Bachelor of Arts (Education) and Bachelor of Music Degrees from Truman State University, where he studied with Dr. Michael Bump.

Marcus Rattler is a classically trained percussionist and drumset player with a specialization in Steel Pan. More particularly, Steel Pan with electronic modification and drumset simultaneously.  He performs with dozens of groups every year and regularly with his fusion band, Legerdemain, across the country and abroad. Performances range from Steel Pan to hand drumming to timpani to big band and many other drumset styles. In addition to performing, he is an educator; giving lessons from home and out of KC Drum Shop, as well as providing Masterclasses and clinics for musicians of all levels at schools and conventions.

Mark Reynolds has built a career in music education spanning over 30 years. He began as a middle school and high school music educator before transitioning to the music industry in 2001. Since then, he has worked in school music retail and with some of the world’s leading percussion manufacturers. His extensive experience has led him to his current role as the National Director of Sales & Education, School Music Division at SABIAN Ltd.

In his role at SABIAN, Mark oversees and directs sales activities for the school music division while also managing the company's education department for the U.S. market. Additionally, he leads the artist relations program for the education division, working with educators at high schools, universities, drum corps, WGI ensembles, and freelance orchestral performers nationwide. He is also a key member of SABIAN’s marketing team, contributing to product development, managing social media content, and coordinating numerous trade shows and conventions.

Mark continues to fuel his passion for education as a lecturer and percussion director for The Ohio State University Marching Band in Columbus, Ohio, a role he has held since 2014. Mark has also written and designed shows for Rhythm X, Redline Percussion, Tyler Jr. College, Hilliard Bradley HS, Thomas Worthington HS, and many other programs in the WGI world.

He resides in Grove City, Ohio, with his wife, Audrey, their sons, Max and Evan, and their two dogs, Zeus and Zoe.

Emily Lemmerman is a professional pan builder and tuner, the first woman to tune for Panorama in Trinidad, the only woman to tune for any Panorama worldwide, and the first American to tune for Trinidad’s large band category.

As a professional pan tuner, Emily Lemmerman has uncommon access to and perspective on the global steelband landscape. She travels to work with bands around the world- not only as a tuner, but also as an educator, clinician, adviser, and performer.  With a formal background in classical music, after a full-time, six-year apprenticeship with Ellie Mannette, and with over 20 years of experience in the field, Emily is one of few people intensively immersed in the broad range of major steelband communities that exist around the world. Emily is a passionate advocate for collaboration and celebration of the diversity that enriches the many successful pan programs that bring joy to communities across the nation. She is very active internationally, working regularly in the Caribbean and Europe. Emily is a charter member of the NSSBE steering committee and serves as Assistant Editor for its newsletter. 

Candice Hill is a percussion and steel pan performer, educator, clinician, composer and adjudicator. As a performer, Candice has been featured as an artist for dozens of schools, community bands, and choirs throughout the United States. Candice composes original music for drumline and steel band, for her own performing groups, and has composed for commissions as well. She formed The Candice Hill Band, which highlights the unique sounds of steel pan with traditional instrumentation in non-traditional covers and originals, and performs regionally. She also frequently performs as a soloist, and on drums for musical pits, churches, local bands, and has performed in Trinidad's Panorama competition. Candice also spent several years playing snare for the KC Chiefs Rumble Drumline and was the first woman to perform in the group.

As an educator, Candice has spent over a decade teaching drumline and concert percussion for Staley High School. She is an active adjudicator and has given clinics for dozens of schools regionally and nationally. She formerly served on faculty with the School of Music at the University of Kansas and Avila University in Kansas City. Candice earned her Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance from Missouri State University, and her Master of Music in Steel Pan Performance from Northern Illinois University.

Dr. Pete Zambito is the Associate Teaching Professor of Music, Assistant Director of Athletic Bands, and Director of the Tiger Pans Steel Band at the University of Missouri.  He teaches courses in a variety of subjects, including Music History, Composition, Aural Skills, Percussion Ensemble Coaching, Career Development, and Writing for the Arts.  Prior to working at Mizzou, he was the Associate Professor of Music, Percussion Instructor, Drumline Instructor, and Director of the Sacred Music Program at Lincoln University (MO). He is currently the principal timpanist for the Marshall (MO) Philharmonic Orchestra, performs as a section percussionist for the Missouri Symphony Orchestra and is a frequent performer on the Odyssey Chamber Series in Columbia, Missouri.

Previously, Dr. Zambito directed the percussion program at Concord University in Athens, WV. In addition to teaching class piano and arranging and scoring, he ran the percussion studio, directed the marching band drumline and the basketball pep band, and in his final semester there, directed the concert band.

Dr. Zambito holds a B.A. degree in music performance with a focus on piano from Wake Forest University, and M.M. and D M.A. degrees in percussion performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He has contributed articles to Percussive Notes and Rhythm Scene, both publications of the Percussive Arts Society, and serves on the PAS Health & Wellness Committee.  He is also a commissioned composer of percussion solos, duets, and ensemble works, many of which are available through C. Alan Publications.  He spent 3 years as an editor and engraver at C. Alan Publications and has been a frequent contributor at the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy and for the Canadian Percussion Network. He is in frequent demand as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the Midwest.  He created and hosts Pete’s Percussion Podcast, a weekly show dedicated to long form interviews of those in and around the percussion world.