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Dr. Mark Berry currently serves as principal timpanist with Orchestra Kentucky, a position he has held
since 2002. As timpanist and percussionist, he has performed with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the
Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, and the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. In a chamber music setting,
Dr. Berry’s percussion playing can be heard on the Equilibrium and Centaur labels as well as self-produced
projects. His debut solo compact disc is entitled “DIMENSION” and is also on the Equilibrium label.
Dr. Berry has commissioned new works for flute and percussion and is a founding member of the percussion/
cello duo, “Col Legno.” His article “Thirteen Drums: interpreting in concurrence with Maki Ishii’s space-time
concept” will appear in the Percussive Arts Society’s journal, “Percussive Notes.”
Dr. Berry’s performance interests lie not only in symphonic genres, but in other genres as well. His steel
band arrangements have been premiered at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington,
D.C. He actively performs on both drumset and steelpan in small combo settings. He has also served as
percussion writer, arranger, instructor, adjudicator, and consultant with marching band programs
throughout the Midwest.
Dr. Berry has received grant awards from the Kentucky Arts Council, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary
Education, and Western Kentucky University. He has earned degrees from the University of Michigan
(DMA Performance, MM Performance as well as The Ohio State University (BME). He is currently Assistant
Professor of Percussion at Western Kentucky University where he teaches applied lessons and directs the
percussion ensemble. He has also taught percussion at West Virginia University and the University of
Michigan, Flint.
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