Eastman Showcase 2007
Marimba Master
In November 2006, Leigh Howard Stevens (BM ’75) was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Percussive Arts Society, the world’s largest organization of percussion performers, educators, and drummers.
Stevens studied with another PAS Hall of Famer, Professor John Beck (inducted in 1999), and was unusual among percussion students at that time for his concentration on a single instrument: the marimba. The young percussionist was determined to make the marimba a respected concert instrument. He did so soon after his graduation, when he made a splash with a solo classical recital at New York’s Town Hall.
Since then, Leigh Howard Stevens has become a widely respected teacher (who has developed his own “Stevens Technique” for marimba), and an active recitalist and soloist, commissioning new works from such composers as Jacob Druckman, David Maslanka, and Joseph Schwantner. Stevens also owns and operates the Malletech Marimba Factory in Neptune, New Jersey.
Eastman is well represented in the PAS Hall of Fame: besides Stevens and Beck, members include legendary Eastman teacher William Street, Bill Cahn (BM ’68) of Nexus, the late composer Warren Benson, and jazz and rock drummer Steve Gadd (BM ’68).