In the fall of 1999, I played percussion in a 2 day festival of the music of minimalist composer Steve Reich at the University of Illinois. Playing Music for Pieces of Wood and Drumming with the U of I Percussion Ensemble were some of the most formative experiences for me as a musician.

Playing the drone part for Music for Pieces of Wood with an ensemble made up of the freshman class of percussion majors taught me how to dicatate tempo and stay steady while rhythms and melodies built up and changed around me. There were a couple hiccups, but it was one of my most treasured performances with my late friend Jeremy Noller.

Drumming was my first experience concentrating for over an hour on a single piece of music with no breaks. The 12 beat cycles and the ever-shifting phasing in the piece lend themselves to the mind drifting through ever-changing melodic strata, meters, rhythms, polyrhythms, and the powerful feelings of movement in my body as a result.

The following year, I had an opportunity to play 6 Marimbas, and it was similarly transformative for me.

Each experience deepened my ability to listen and feel music flexibly and solidly in a way that no other music has.