Norman Weinberg, currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Arizona, retired as Professor of Music and the Director of Percussion Studies at UA after 20 years. Before arriving at the University of Arizona, Norman was Professor of Music and the Director of Percussion Studies at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, TX as well as Adjunct Professor at Corpus Christi State University for 18 years. During his 38 years of university teaching, Norm helped guide hundreds of students toward becoming professional performers, teachers, and mentors.
Norm has performed as the principal timpanist/principal percussionist with the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra and as principal timpanist with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Evansville Philharmonic, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, and the Leonard Bernstein Festival Orchestra. Before retiring to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, he performed with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the Arizona Opera Orchestra. These, and additional musical experiences, have given him the opportunity to perform under the batons of David Amram, Enrique Batiz, Luciano Berio, Leonard Bernstein, Gary Bertini, Ogan Durjan’narc, Cornelius Eberhardt, Lukas Foss, Sir Alexander Gibson, Alberto Ginastera, Christopher Keene, Cal Stewart Kellogg, Igor Markevitch, Neville Marriner, Yehudi Menuhin, John Nelson, Daniel Oren, Krzysztof Penderecki, Jose Serebrier, Robert Shaw, George Singer, Leonard Slatkin, Walter Susskind, and many others.
Norm has performed and presented seminars at many regional, national, and international conventions including two International Percussion Festivals of Puerto Rico, the Texas Music Educators Association Convention, the Texas Association of Music Schools Convention, the Tennessee Wind Ensemble Conference, the Ontario “Celebration of the Drum,” the Day of Percussion Festivals in Arizona, California, Kansas, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah, the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia National Convention, the Rhythm Sticks Festival in London, England, the “Toronto 2000: Musical Intersections” conference, and six Percussive Arts Society International Conventions.
A prolific author, Norm has published nearly 300 articles in journals including Drum!, Modern Drummer, Drums and Drumming, Rhythm, Percussive Notes, Percussive Notes Research Edition, Keyboard, EQ, Music and Computers, The Instrumentalist, and Home Recording Newsletter. He held the position of Contributing Technology Editor for Drum! magazine from 2004 to 2018 and served as the founding Technology Editor for Percussive Notes—a position he held for 12 years. In addition, he has several compositions published by Southern Music Corporation. His text, The Electronic Drummer, is part of the Modern Drummer Library and his book, Guide to Standardized Drumset Notation, has set a worldwide standard and is published by the Percussive Arts Society. Both books are distributed by Hal Leonard Publications. His most recent etude book, TOUCH: Developing Subtlety and Nuance for Percussionists, has received critical acclaim by many of the world’s finest percussion performers and educators.
Educational achievements include the prestigious Performer’s Certificate from Indiana University, where Norm received the Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance with Honors and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He has studied with several outstanding teachers during his career including George Boberg, Jerry Carlyss, George Gaber, William Roberts, Ben Udell, Gary Werdesheim, Charmaine Asher Wiley, and William Zickos.
At PASIC 2023, Norman was honored to be awarded the Percussive Arts Society Lifetime Achievement Award in Education. In 2015, Norman was awarded the Charles and Irene Putnam Excellence in Teaching Award by the College of Fine Arts at the University of Arizona. And in 2002, Norman was honored to be the recipient of the Maestro Award from the University of Arizona School of Music and Dance, awarded “in recognition of his students’ outstanding achievements.”
Norman created and helped to establish the World Percussion Network which later became www.pas.org” At PASIC ’94, he was given the Outstanding Service Award from the Percussive Arts Society for his work in the foundational development of the PAS website. In 2000, Norman was invited to present the Keynote Address at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention’s New Music/Research Day. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Percussive Arts Society from 1998-2004.
Norm is extremely proud to be a Yamaha Performing Artist, Vic Firth Artist, Zildjian Performing Artist, Remo Gold Level Endorser, and member of the Black Swamp Educator Network.
Norman is also the President of VAP Media, LLC. VAP Media is a publishing company dedicated to making connections between percussionists and their common history. VAP Media publishes online courses such as Percussion History and Literature, History and Development of the Drumset, Marimba and Xylophone History, and The Repertoire. VAP Media also publishes historic books and music concerning percussion instruments and pedagogy. You can visit the VAP Media site at https://www.vapmedia.com.