Stuart Gerber
Professor Interim Director, Percussion Area Coordinator School of Music- Specializations
Percussion
- Biography
Coordinator of Percussion
Lauded as having “consummate virtuosity” by The New York Times, Stuart Gerber has performed extensively throughout the US, Europe, Australia, and Mexico as a soloist an chamber musician. He is associate professor of percussion at Georgia State University in Atlanta.
As an active performer of new works, Dr. Gerber has been involved in a number of world-premiere performances. He gave the world premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s last solo percussion work Himmels-Tür in Italy, and his percussion trio Mittwoch-Formel at the annual Stockhausen-Courses in Kürten, Germany. He has also given the US and Australian premieres of Stockhausen’s duo version ofNasenflügeltanz for percussion and synthesizer, and the US premiere of his solo percussion work Komet. Dr. Gerber has been the faculty percussionist for the Stockhausen-Courses since 2005 and has recorded a number of pieces for the Stockhausen Complete Edition released by the Stockhausen-Verlag.
In addition to his work with Stockhausen, Stuart Gerber has worked with many other notable composers, such as Kaija Saariaho, Steve Reich, Tristan Murail, Frederic Rzewski, George Crumb, Tania Lèon, Michael Colgrass, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and John Luther Adams.
Recent performances include: The White Light Festival at Lincoln Center; Now Festival in Tallinn, Estonia; Chihuahua International Music Festival in Mexico; Gulbenkian Center in Lisbon, Portugal; South Bank Centre in London; Ultraschall Festival in Berlin, Germany; Melbourne Recital Centre, Australia; Spoleto Festival in Charleston; as well as a performance with Stewart Copeland (the legendary drummer for The Police) at the Savannah Music Festival. Dr. Gerber has extensive recording experience and can be heard on Bridge Records, Capstone Records, Telarc, Code Blue Records, Mode Records, Wesleyan University Press, Albany Records and Vienna Modern Masters.
As pedagogue Dr. Gerber has recently presented a lecture-recital at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) as well as papers at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities in Honolulu. He has given numerous masterclasses at conservatories and universities around the US and abroad. Recent masterclasses include: Eastman School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Arizona State University, University of Texas-Austin, University of Florida, University of South Florida, University of Montreal, Southbank Centre (London), and the Sydney Conservatory and the Victoria College of Arts in Australia.
Dr. Gerber is a founding member of the Atlanta-based new music group Bent Frequency, performs internationally as one half of the piano-percussion duo Ensemble Sirius, and is regularly heard as extra percussionist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Stuart Gerber received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin College Conservatory where he studied with Michael Rosen and a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). His teachers at CCM were Allen Otte, Russell Burge, and James Culley of the Percussion Group Cincinnati. He has also done advanced studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, Germany, with professor Andreas Boettger.