Dr. Andrew Eldridge is Coordinator of Percussion and Associate Professor of Percussion at the University of Texas at Arlington. Under his direction, the UTA Percussion Ensemble presented a Showcase Concert as a winner of the 2024 International Percussion Ensemble Competition for the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC). The ensemble also performed a 90-minute concert for the New Literature Session at PASIC 2017 and Showcase Concerts at the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) annual convention in 2017 and 2023. The UTA Percussion Ensemble actively commissions talented composers for the UTA Percussion Commissioning Series, presenting world premieres of music by Clif Walker, Joe W. Moore III, Nathan Daughtrey, Francisco Perez, and Chris Jones. Andrew currently serves as co-chair of the Percussion Ensemble Committee for the Percussive Arts Society (PAS). Andrew also serves the greater Texas percussion community as president of the Texas PAS Chapter. He served a three-year term on the Lone Star Wind Orchestra Board of Directors and has been performing with the group as a section percussionist since 2009. His interests in crowd-funding and electronics allowed Andrew opportunities to present clinics for the Midwest Clinic (2013, 2018), Texas Music Educators Association annual convention (2014, 2018), National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy (2018, 2023), and College Music Society National Conference (2022). An avid performer of new music, Andrew has individually commissioned and given the world premieres of music written for percussion by Dan Welcher, Kyle Kindred, Dwayne Rice, Martin Blessinger, Ryan George, and David Maslanka. His most recent commissions from Connor Shafran and Doug Bush focus on the integration of electronics within the traditional acoustic percussion set-up. Andrew is endorsed by Yamaha drums and percussion, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Zildjian cymbals, Remo drumheads, and Black Swamp Percussion.
