2024 – Marimba Basics
Conner Viets is a multi-faceted percussionist active as an educator, chamber musician, and solo performer. He was recently appointed Visiting Instructor and Director of Percussion Studies at Murray State University where he teaches applied lessons, Percussion Methods, directs the Percussion Ensemble, and assists with the renowned Racer Band marching percussion section. Conner is a Doctor of Music Candidate at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he studies with Professors Kevin Bobo, Joseph Gramley and John Tafoya. He served as the Graduate Assistant for the percussion department during the 2022-23 academic year alongside Percussion Technician Joel Castro. Performance activities at IU include participation as a member of the 2023 PAS International Percussion Ensemble Competition-winning IU Percussion Ensemble, IU Philharmonic Orchestra, and IU New Music Ensemble. Additional work includes extensive collaborations with the IU JSoM Composition Department including premieres of works by Younje Cho, Hippocrates Chang and Huan Sun.
Alongside Hannah Gallamore, Conner is co-founder of CHannel2, a percussion duo dedicated to the exploration of innovative works written for rapidly evolving idiom of the percussive arts. CH2 spent the summer of 2021 as an artist-in-residence at Avaloch Farm Music Institute as a part of the LNK Percussion Collective. Performance highlights include appearances at the 2019 Nebraska Day of Percussion, 2019 TEDx UMKC Conference, 2019 Heartland Marimba Ensemble Summer Tour, 2018 North Star Music Festival, and 2018 tours throughout the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas. Competitive success includes 1st Place in the 2017 and 2019 Mid-Missouri Percussive Arts Trophy duet competitions, runner-up at the 2019 Great Plains International Marimba Competition, and Second Prize in the 2019 International ENKOR Competition. Additionally, the group has published ten professional-grade recordings to date in collaboration with Blank House Media.
Conner appears regularly as a soloist, exploring an eclectic taste of repertoire across a myriad of instruments. He has appeared as a performer at the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy and competitive success includes winning the 2020 Black Swamp Collegiate Snare Drum Solo Competition.
Conner’s previous educational service includes appointments at St. Thomas University, Coral Reef High School, and the South Florida Center for the Percussive Arts while located in Miami, FL. Additional teaching experience includes a Graduate Assistantship at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and extensive work with Windsor High School and Lafayette High School in St. Louis, MO. Additionally, Conner has worked as a remote Data Breach Analyst for Epiq Systems Inc intermittently since 2020. Conner holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (M.M.), 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.