Crossover Marimba Workshop 2025
Evolving from the “Jenny Klukken Marimba Workshop” from 2024, the Crossover Marimba Workshop is an annual gathering (in-person and virtually) of creative, crossover marimbists. Hosted by Jenny Klukken at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, this weekend is packed with activities, including:
Presentations and group discussions on a creative approach to the marimba and its place in the wider-world of music-making
Workshops on practice techniques that emphasize the understanding of chords, harmony, improvisation, and arranging
One-on-one lessons with crossover marimbists working professionally
Time for participants to share their projects and receive feedback from like-minded musicians
Performances by crossover marimbists
JUNE 28th - ALL DAY in-person at the University of Minnesota
Clinics, performances, group discussions
Lunch and dinner are BOTH on your own this year. Pack your food, or hit up a local eatery nearby. Options will be provided that day.
Bring mallets!
Bring any music you are working on and would like to share!
JUNE 29th - one-on-one lessons give to in-person attendees only, with Jenny Klukken or Juan Alamo
Option to practice at the U of M that day and take a one-on-one lesson with either Jenny or Juan.
Note that if you need to leave, this is completely optional if your schedule does not allow.
Workshop Team
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.
Virtual guest
Julie Spencer
American composer and musician Julie Spencer crosses stylistic and cultural boundaries. She connects East and West from the center of Europe and follows the romantic tradition to open doors for a modern synthesis of the arts in her work as composer, performing musician, and painter.
Spencer’s works are being played throughout the world – from Los Angeles via Peking and Tokyo to Warsaw and back to Bingen. Her music is asked for with international commissions and awarded with grants for example from the United States National Endowment for the Arts.
Her compositions and arrangements have been premiered in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella New Chamber Music Series in the Japan American Theater and the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in L.A. with the Glendale Symphony under the baton of Lalo Schifrin as well as in concert halls, conservatories, and international festivals in Berlin, Osaka, Peking, Washington D.C., and Atlanta. Her first concerto for marimba and orchestra was premiered in Japan with chamber ensemble and with full orchestra in Warsaw, Poland in 2006. Ensemble and orchestra works followed worldwide, and 2017 her most recent orchestral work in Zhongshan Hall, Taipei, Taiwan with Yu An Chang, Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducting the Taipei Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, with commissioning soloist Wei Chen Lin of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
Many multi-ethnic projects are co-composed with other collaborative artists, including Ethiopian German singer Menna Mulugeta, and multi-instrumentalist and composer Gernot Blume.
As an internationally renowned marimba virtuoso Spencer has appeared in concerts throughout Europe, North America, and East Asia.
Spencer has had jazz and world music ensembles with artists from Venezuela, Mongolia, Iran, Brazil, India, Australia, Japan, the US, and Germany. Based in Germany Spencer has been part of the faculty on numerous Zeltsman ZMF festivals, US Percussion Camps, KoSA, the Mycka IKMMA festival, and adjudicator at various competitions such as the Japan Percussion Society solo mallet competition in Tokyo.
In the United States, she was adjunct faculty at the California Institute of the Arts and at the University of Michigan. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, and recipient, post graduation, of the Performer’s Certificate, Spencer’s master’s degree is from Cal Arts. Her music can be heard on more than 20 CD releases of pop, jazz, contemporary, world music, and chamber percussion by solo artists and chamber ensembles from Canada, Japan, Germany, and the US, such as Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra co-principle trombonist, Hiroshi Tanaka’s “Walking On Air” CD recording with “Lights of Love Concerto for Trombone” with piano.
Also a prize winning visual artist with numerous exhibits, Spencer has works in private collections in Japan, the U.S., Germany, and Norway. Based in Germany, Spencer’s art is featured by Norsk Musikforlag on the covers of her scores and Blume’s scores and on CD covers of other artists, such as Japanese percussion and flute duo, Shiori Tanaka and Kazuko Ihara’,“Voices for Peace.” Spencer plays Bergerault / Dynasty Marimbas, Mike Balter Mallets, MalletKat, and is published by Norsk Musikforlag.
GUEST ARTIST AND PRESENTER
JUAN ALAMO
Dr. Juan Álamo is an internationally known performer, composer, and educator. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees with Jazz as related field from the University of North Texas.
Originally from Cidra, Puerto Rico, Dr. Álamo has presented solo recitals at universities and percussion and jazz festivals throughout the United States, Central and South America, Europe and the Caribbean. He has been featured as a soloist and with Jazz ensembles in television and radio shows in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States. Currently Juan is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Percussion Ensemble at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
As a Marimba soloist and percussionist, Álamo has presented recitals in different areas of United States, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Dr. Alamo has been featured in TV and Radio shows in Venezuela, Puerto Rico and United States. Also he has performed and shared the stage with renowned artist such as Keiko Abe, William Cahn, Ney Rosauro, Orlando Cotto, Steve Shick, Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, John Wooton, Dave Samuels, Tom Toyama, Dan Moore, Michael Spiro, Ted Piltzecker and famous conductors such as Sergiu Comissiona and Krzyszt Penderecki.
His first solo marimba recording, Remembrance, was released in 2007. It features standard repertory as well as two of his compositions for marimba. In 2014, Dr. Álamo released his second CD, entitled Marimjazzia, featuring original compositions and arrangements of jazz standards such as “Afro Blues” and “Waltz for Debby.” Marimjazzia was selected to represent Parma Records at the 58th Grammy Awards in the category of “Best Latin Jazz Album,” and “Best Instrumental Solo.” His 2016 recording, Pursuing Freedom, was selected to represent Albany Records at the 2017 Latin Grammy Awards in the category of “Best Solo Classical Album.” His 2019 Latin Jazz album reached and remain for four weeks on the list of the top 50 jazz tunes in the US, and it has been praised by critics and musicians for his unique blend of classical marimba, Latin rhythms and jazz. In September of 2021, Dr. Álamo released his fourth solo marimba album Ensoãcion with Summit records featuring his originals compositions and arrangements of Bach’s Cello suites number one and five and Beethoven’s Bagatelles op. 119. In the summer of 2024, Álamo released Marimbissimo: A Latin American Suite for Marimba and Big band his sixth studio album featuring his original compositions for marimba and big band.
Also as a composer, Dr. Álamo has several pieces published by major publishing companies such as; Musicion Publications, Row-Loff Productions, C. Alan Publications, and Mallet Work Inc. He has also collaborated with Arthur Lipner in the creation of the jazz vibes book Milt Jackson – Transcribed Solos of the Master. Dr. Álamo has also published two marimba methods, Music for Four Mallets: A Collection of Original Etudes for Beginners and Intermediate Marimba Players and Marimbissimo: A Musical Guide to Chord Voicing and Improvisation for Intermediate and Advance Marimba Players. Álamo is a performing clinician for Yamaha, Meinl Percussion, Innovative Percussion and Sabian.
GUEST ARTIST AND PRESENTER
THOR BREMER
Thor Bremer works as a composer, producer, sound designer, performer, and educator. He received his B.A. in music from UW-Milwaukee, where he studied classical percussion and his M.F.A. in Game Music and Audio from the University of Chichester and ThinkSpace Education. As a composer and sound designer he works with a variety of audio teams and developers, primarily with Serial Lab Sound. As a performer Thor works as a drummer, marimbist and percussionist, enjoying collaborations with: Fretless Music, Emperia Sound (notably recording for "Star Wars Outlaws"), Chase Revisited, Steve Edwards Orchestra, Animal Farm, and many others. Thor has been a professor of interactive sound at Columbia College Chicago since 2022 and has been teaching music since high school. Thor has written, produced and released 3 albums of chamber music with Nine Worlds Ensemble where he also plays marimba and vibraphone and has produced 3 albums under his own name. Lately he has been releasing EPs and singles under the "Boss Battles" moniker that is inspired by game music and a lifetime of listening to diverse music. Outside of music and audio Thor enjoys lifting weights, creative woodworking, making fresh pasta, and practicing meditation.
PRESENTER: Marimba & MEDIA PRODUCTION
Steve Yeager
Steve Yeager has enjoyed multiple successes in the music business for the past 35 years as an accomplished Composer, Performer, Arranger, Producer and Educator. He's a graduate of St. John's University in Collegeville, Mn with Degrees in Music and Psychology. He later attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where he was the recipient of a Berklee Professional Music Scholarship and a Gary Burton Jazz Masters Incentive Award. Steve taught for 10 years (2000-2010) at the University of Minnesota Music Department as adjunct faculty, teaching Vibraphone, Jazz and improvisation. From 2010 - 2015 Steve was the program specialist and LOGIC certified trainer at the Minneapolis Media Institute, a 2 year technical college where graduates received an Associates Degree in Audio Recording and Production. From 2015 - 2020 Steve taught the Music/Media course at STEP High School in Anoka, Mn. Course work included LOGIC, music theory, music biz and video production. As a recording artist, Steve has released a plethora of music art. He writes and produces music in a variety of genres and distributes these recordings on all platforms. His music has been used in Movies, TV shows, and Multimedia.
Program Adviser
Eri Isomura
Eri Isomura is a percussionist and marimbist from St. Paul, Minnesota. Eri is a founding member of 10th Wave Chamber Collective, a Twin Cities-based ensemble featuring classical music of the 20th and 21st centuries, which served as an MPR Class Notes Artist ensemble for 21-22. She is also an Ensemble Artist of the Heartland Marimba Ensemble since 2019. She has recently performed in a variety of musical styles with the Minnesota Opera, Duluth Symphony, Theater Mu, Cantus, National Lutheran Choir, Zeitgeist, Border CrosSing and others. Recording projects include the album "Twelve Months in Minnesota" (2023) consisting of percussion solos composed by Asuka Kakitani, "Musical Moments for Cello and Marimba" (2021) with her father Sachiya Isomura, a former cellist in the Minnesota Orchestra, "Champagne Confetti" self-titled pop classical album(2023), among others.
While studying at the Boston Conservatory, she was a member of the New England Philharmonic and performed with the Brookline Symphony Orchestra. She performed for the "Times Two Series," a new music initiative based in Boston. She performed in John Luther Adams' piece Inuksuit, a percussion piece written for the outdoors at the Tippett Rise Music Festival, Bravo! Vail Music Festival, and Aspen Music Festival. She has commissioned and/or premiered works for marimba by local composers such as Asako Hirabayashi, Asuka Kakitani, Michael Maiorana, Ian A Cook, Elwyn A Fraser Jr., Jonathan Posthuma, and others.
As an educator, Eri was percussion faculty at St. Olaf College from 2018-2023, and a percussion class teacher at Yinghua Academy 2020-2023, and President of the Percussive Arts Society Minnesota Chapter. She has been a clinician at the Minnesota Percussion Association, adjudicated local competitions and high school solo and ensemble days, and teaches private lessons. As a piano instructor she is a member of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association as well as the Minneapolis Music Teachers Forum. She has been a guest panelist for the Minnesota Orchestra Pre-Concert Talk and St. Olaf Arts Entrepreneurship, as well as a guest on music podcasts.
Eri’s diverse musical background began with classical piano with Jean Krinke and percussion with Robert Adney. She continued her percussion and marimba studies with David Hagedorn, and drumset with Phil Hey at St. Olaf College, where she received her B.M. in Percussion Performance with Distinction in 2011. She completed her M.M. in Percussion Performance at The Boston Conservatory under the tutelage of Keith Aleo, Doug Perkins, Samuel Z Solomon, and Nancy Zeltsman.