WITH VIRTUAL GUEST ARTISTS:

ERIC SAMMUT & JUAN ALAMO

Workshops and Masterclasses on

improvisation, genre-crossing, arranging for marimba,

practice approaches, career and artistic development

$180 IN PERSON

$100 VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE

Registration Includes:

10AM-5:30PM WORKSHOP DAY

@ The University of Minnesota in Minneapolis

7PM CONCERT

@ Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall, U of M campus

One individual will be given the opportunity to attend the workshop as an intern. They will work closely with the team and guest artists to plan and coordinate the day. Click on the button below to read the full description listing and learn how to appy.

Artistic Director & Host

JENNY KLUKKEN

Jenny Klukken is a marimbist from Minneapolis who combines her classical percussion background with her passion for improvisation-based music like jazz. As a crossover musician, Jenny bridges the gap between virtuosic marimba repertoire and adaptive music-making. She strives to take the instrument to new ears, celebrating its versatility in a wide range of genres.

Klukken first moved to Minneapolis to study Percussion Performance at the University of Minnesota with Fernando Meza, Steve Yeager, and Phil Hey. At that time, she was interested in pursing jazz drumset but soon found her home was with the marimba. She spent years studying classic marimba repertoire before returning to her passion for improvisational genres like jazz, folk, Latin, hip hop, and beyond. For years after her formal education, Jenny played in various improv-based ensembles to develop her craft and her creative approach to a mostly-classical instrument. Through a grant from the Metropolitan Region Arts Council, Jenny travelled to Paris, France, in 2018 to study composition and improvisation on marimba with Eric Sammut. This experience studying with Sammut greatly influenced her playing and writing styles and led her to write many new works for marimba + band. In 2019, Jenny travelled to Costa Rica to teach marimba workshop and also learn about traditional Costa Rican folk music. In Guanacaste, Costa Rica, Jenny had the privilege of connecting with marimbists of ages. This trip enriched her connection to the instrument and its tradition in improvisation, which influences her as a performer and educator today.

Soon after, Jenny collected her compositions for marimba + band to crowd-fund, record, and produce her first full length record in 2021 entitled “Color in Motion”, which was the first of its kind: centering the marimba on a jazz/world music album. Color in Motion is filled with Latin percussion, complex rhythms, soaring melodies, and virtuosic marimba playing. It features some of Minneapolis’ finest, inluding: Nachito Herrera (piano), Chris Bates (upright bass), Dave Schmalenberger (drums), Byan Nichols (piano), as well as a connection to Costa Rica with drummer Carlomagno Araya.

Klukken currently teaches marimba at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, as well as teaching percussion at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN. She is an active performer and musical collaborator in the Twin Cities area, where she lives. As passionate educator, she regularly visits Universities and high schools to teach and encourage young marimbists to incorporate improvisation and creativity into their musicianship. Jenny is a premier artist with Marimba One of Arcata, California, and a member of the Percussive Arts Society.

Guest artist

Eric Sammut

Eric was born in Toulouse, France, where he studied piano and percussion and became known for his musical abilities at an early age. His varied musical experiences have led him to appreciate music of all genres, from Bach and Mozart to jazz and rock. After his studies at the Conservatoire supérieur de musique de Lyon he became the First Percussionist at l’Opera de Lyon. His passion for the marimba emerged during this period, as he found a new musical and technical approach to the instrument. In 1995 he won the Leigh Howard Stevens International Marimba Competition and toured the USA, performing concerts and conducting masterclasses. Since then he has given recitals in France, Europe, and Asia, as well as the USA, gaining recognition as an international artist. He now serves as Principal Percussionist of the Orchestre de Paris and teaches marimba at the Conservatoire de Paris. Specialising in the art of improvisation, his scope of musical interactions ranges from Bach to Cole Porter and from Prokofiev to Edith Piaf. Sammut has also become one of the foremost composers of music for the marimba and actively promotes the instrument throughout France and all of Europe.

Guest Artist

Juan Álamo

Juan Álamo is an internationally known composer, percussionists, and marimba soloists. Dr. Álamo has developed a unique approach to marimba performance and pedagogy by blending musical elements derived from concert marimba literature with Latin rhythms and jazz improvisation. For instance, his 2014 studio album Marimjazzia features original jazz compositions for solo marimba as well as arrangements of jazz standards such as Afro Blues and Waltz for Debby. His 2019 recording Ruta Panoramica features original composition for marimba with piano, bass, percussion and drum set accompaniment. This album reached and remained for four weeks on the list of the top 50 jazz chart in the United States, and it has been praised by critics and musicians for his unique fusion of classical marimba techniques, Latin rhythms, and jazz harmonies and improvisation. Currently, Álamo is working on an album of original compositions for marimba and big band. This album is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2024 by Summit records. His new marimba method Marimbissimo: A Musical Guide to Chordal Voicing and Improvisation for Intermediate to Advance Marimba Players has been praised by renown marimbist for his unique and refreshing approach to marimba studies. "What a well-conceived method to introduce (“classical”) marimba players to the tools of improvisation, signature elements of distinctive styles of popular music, and expanded versatility performing in many contexts and styles” – Nancy Zeltsman Dr. Álamo explore the musical has presented master classes and recitals at universities, the prestigious Percussive Arts Society International Conference, as well as various percussion and jazz festivals throughout the United States, Europe, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Additionally, Álamo has also recorded and/or shared the stage with renowned artists such as Tito Puente, Dave Samuels, Michael Spiro, Branford Marsalis, Snarky Puppy, Victor Mendoza, among others. Dr. Alamo is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and a performing artist and clinician for Yamaha, Innovative Percussion and Meinl Percussion. More information about his artistic career, compositions, recordings, and performance schedule can be found on his personal web site at, https://juanalamomusic.com/https://juanalamomusic.com/.

juanalamomusic.com