Dr. Stuart Marrs is a Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Maine (UMaine), and during his 38 year tenure, he also served as Chair of the Music Division, and for the university at large, as Associate Provost, and Dean for Undergraduate Education. In addition to his work at UMaine, he taught at the National University of Costa Rica, and Indiana University where he earned his doctorate.
His principal orchestral positions include the orchestras of Louisville, Bolivia, and Costa Rica. As a freelancer, his experience includes such diverse areas as television, the Ice Capades, jazz, symphonic orchestra, experimental groups, solo, and chamber recital performances. Dr. Marrs is an international artist having taught and/or performed in: Singapore, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, El Salvador, Bolivia, and Costa Rica.
In 2005, he authored the analytical DVD, Stuart Marrs on Elliott Carter: Eight Pieces for Four Timpani – Performance and Analysis. This seminal work has received international attention, and portions of it are viewable on his YouTube channel.
Lastly, Dr. Marrs is a Yamaha Performing Artist, and an endorser for Sabian, Vic Firth, and Grover ProPercussion.
When did you begin studying music?
Both of my parents were public school music educators, so it was not unexpected that I started young. I do not recall my exact age, but it was probably around the age of six or seven.
Did you always study percussion?
We constantly had classical music playing in the house, and I was always going to concerts: from my Dad’s band concerts in Jersey to the Metropolitan Opera in Manhattan. But, all of that listening and engagement as an audience member would eventually pay off. My first instrument was violin, but my father thought I was treating it like a toy, and he took it away. My next instrument was the clarinet when I was around 10, but that didn’t work out very well either. I guess I still didn’t understand the linkage between practicing and getting better!
What made you choose percussion?
One day while I was riding with my dad in our Jeep, and I was beating out some rhythms with my hands on the dash, he suggested I give percussion a shot. I coasted along with that for a year or two, and up to that point, my dad was my teacher. After seeing an impressive snare drummer in a school concert, my mother said perhaps we should seek out a drum teacher. My father was not convinced. He said, “If he doesn’t practice for me, why would he practice for someone else?” Somehow, we convinced him to let me give it a try.
When did you decide to pursue a career in music?
I really took off with good instruction and hard work, and this was with a local drum teacher and gigging drummer in New Jersey, Muzzy Mizzoni. A wonderful man. When I told him I wanted to major in music in college, his reaction was uncommonly unselfish. He said he would set me up with lessons with Morris Goldenberg, who was then teaching at Juilliard when it was on Claremont Ave in NYC. So he gave up a private student in favor of what was best for the student.
I studied with Mr. Goldenberg for my last three years of high school until it was time for me to go off to college. During the academic year, lessons were at Juilliard, and during the summer, Mr. Goldenberg maintained a teaching studio at Carroll’s on West 48th Street. NBC also had TV studios there, and it was not uncommon to run into TV celebs in the elevator. Also, Harry Bruer used to hang out there and was very kind to me while I’d be warming up and practicing for my lesson.
During the academic year, since my lesson was the last of his Saturday lessons, Mr. Goldenberg would sometimes take me with him to his gig on the TV game show, Concentration, with Hugh Downs. He would have to play a little xylophone lick at the beginning and a timpani gliss at one point. But Local 802 Musicians Union required it to be live music for every show. Thinking about it now, I was really blessed to have grown up in that environment — surrounded by, and immersed in the professional world of percussion. After winning my auditions for All-State Orchestra and All-State Band in New Jersey, I thought I could be competitive and decided to major in music in college. So, during my senior year of high school, Mr. Goldenberg says, “OK, we need to prepare your audition for Juilliard.” I said, “No offense, but coming into the city for lessons was one thing. Living here would be entirely something else.” He said that there is only one other school he would recommend: Indiana University, with George Gaber. And that is where I went.
Mr. Gaber was baffled as to why Mr. Goldenberg would send him a good student, but it worked out, and Mr. Gaber ended up being the one who really shaped me as a timpanist in particular, and a percussionist in general. Back in those days, in a conservatory setting, one prepared for a professional orchestral career. And that is what I did. My first audition was for Principal Percussion in the Louisville Orchestra. At the age of 21, I ended up being the youngest Principal in the orchestra.
Do you focus on a specific area of percussion?
In my life as a teacher, I have always endeavored to encompass as broad a spectrum of percussion playing as circumstances permitted. So as my orchestral performing career was mostly as a timpanist, my percussion playing in academia has been much broader in scope: multiple percussion in chamber and solo settings, keyboard percussion, drum set, hand-drumming, etc. I want to be able to at least demonstrate what I teach — so I am still practicing!
Who impacted your musical growth the most?
In the very beginning it was my first drum teacher: Vincent “Muzzy” Mizzoni. Later it was clearly George Gaber at Indiana University. And since then, it’s been practically everyone I see and hear. I try to never stop growing as a musician.
What teaching positions have you held?
I was the founding percussion teacher in Costa Rica’s famed “Programa Juvenil” of the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra, which is part of Costa Rica’s “Musical Revolution.” Also while in Costa Rica, I taught at the Conservatorio Castella, and at the UNA (Universidad Nacional Autónoma). I wrote about those years in an article for Percussive Notes, the magazine of the Percussive Arts Society. I was an Associate Instructor at Indiana University while I was pursuing my Doctor of Music Arts degree, and since 1985, I’ve been teaching at the University of Maine. I retired from UMaine at the end of the 2022 -2023 academic year. My plan is to continue teaching over the Internet with a focus on the enormously talented students of Latin America and Asia.
What percussionists have inspired you most?
To name a few would be a disservice to the many I find inspirational! Percussion offers such a diverse pallet for artistic expression that I am constantly finding inspiration, even from my students!
Is there a specific genre you enjoy performing most?
Even after all these years, symphonic music can provide magical moments that give me goosebumps. But having said that, a single well-placed note, almost in any genre, can transcend into a mystical experience. When you are in the “zone,” there is nothing like it.
What composers do you identify with?
The great Romantic and Neo-romantic composers for symphonic music. J.S. Bach on the marimba gives percussionists a musical experience like no other. And, of course, Elliott Carter’s solo timpani pieces that I have now moved from my earlier DVD to my Youtube channel.
Do you get nervous before you play?
This is an issue that 40% of all people who have to be on stage deal with, and there are several approaches to handling it. It would be totally irresponsible for me to dole out generalized advice about a potential medical condition in a forum like this one. But I can suggest that anyone experiencing stage fright read up on it and the options for addressing the condition. There is an excellent objective assessment of the condition by Consumer Reports at: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/04/can-you-treat-stage-fright/index.htm
Do you ever make a mistake while performing?
Errare humanum est! To err is human. One always needs to keep this ancient maxim in mind. This is so important that the programmers for modern MIDI sequencers had to build in a “humanization” algorithm that automatically introduces minor imperfections into the musical sequence. Otherwise, it doesn’t sound “right.” The ancient Latin saying goes on to imply that one shouldn’t keep repeating the same errors. We need to always strive to express the music as accurately as we are able; understanding that perfection is neither possible, nor ironically, desirable.
Has your practice regimen changed from when you were a student?
When you are working for a living, you usually don’t have four to five hours per day to practice. So no, I have not been able to practice as much as when I was a student. So, I have to be smart about it. I make a list of things I need to practice and make sure to devote at least a small amount of time to each item on the list in each practice session. If you introduce practice material into your body’s CPU – the brain – it will continue to work subconsciously on the material; even when you are away from the practice room. If you do not provide the input, your brain has nothing to work with, and if it could talk to you as a third person, it would say, “Meet me halfway. Practice a little!” I have had students who use timers with great success to ensure they cover everything on their list.
How do you define a good musician and a good teacher?
I notice that you use the term “musician” and not “percussionist” in this question. In my opinion, that is key. If you have awesome percussion technique, but do not know how to phrase musically, you will not be a good musician. On the contrary, you can have relatively weak technique and still be an awesome musician. Of course, we strive to develop both, with technique at the service of musicality. Because I have always had a good idea of what musical expression I was seeking, I was able to focus on what I needed to do to get me there. Students ought not get hung up on “technical rules.” The sound is the thing when it comes to music. Snare drum sticking is a case in point. In the concert hall, as opposed to the marching venue, it doesn’t matter what sticking you use to execute the snare drum part, as long as you, and the conductor, are happy with how it sounds.
To be a great teacher, you have to care deeply about passing on our art form to the next generation so they can take it to new levels. The greatest reward a teacher can receive is if their students surpass them as performers and teachers. There was an unfortunate period in our musical history when professional performers would teach, but would intentionally withhold certain knowledge about the craft out of fear of those same students taking their gigs and leaving them out in the cold. Thankfully, those times are pretty much in the past, and with the advent of YouTube, nearly all aspects of musical performance are available to anyone with a broadband Internet connection. The hard part now is separating the wheat from the chaff. It is an understatement to note that the Internet is rife with misinformation and poor guidance for the music student. One of the things that a great teacher can do now is to help their students navigate this brave new world.
Do you think that performing and teaching are intrinsically intertwined?
No. There are many examples of artists who are great performers but not known as great teachers – and vice versa. If one does perform and teach, it represents an opportunity to share one’s discoveries as a performer with one’s students. It also reveals the humbling reality that there is an infinite variety of musical expressions. There is no single, monolithic, right way! That is what makes our discipline such a blessing. There is no end to growth.
Has teaching made you a better musician?
I believe that is the case, in the sense that when I am addressing musical or technical issues as a performer, I can hear my own teacher’s inner voice clearly instructing me on how to proceed. Keep in mind that the lessons I impart to my students go beyond how to execute with good technique, and how to phrase musically. Rather, we cover how to practice, how to mentally approach the music, and how to have the discipline to do what we need to do instead of what we want to do. Lessons might include references to breathing, meditation, and Tai Chi.
Knowing what you know today, would you change how you prepared for your career?
You bet! There are lots of things I would have done differently. The most salient, however, is that I would have studied piano at an early age. That single line of study opens so many doors to other musical endeavors that are otherwise daunting. Let’s just start with keyboard mallet percussion. Once, in the early 1980s while talking about four-mallet marimba technique with a friend who was a well-known Polish percussionist, she said to me, “Stuart, I play Debussy preludes on the piano! This four-mallet marimba literature is like kindergarten play for me.” She wasn’t bragging. I am not suggesting that every percussionist should achieve that level of piano playing, but some level of proficiency would be helpful. Now let’s go a bit further, how helpful would it be, as an ensemble conductor, if you could score-read at the piano? Then there’s harmony, jazz improv… the list goes on and on.
What was the impetus behind your series on Elliot Carter’s Eight Pieces for Four Timpani?
Mr. Carter had shared the original manuscript versions of some of the pieces with my teacher at Indiana University, George Gaber. So many of his students played those pieces at student recitals. I bought the published revised version in 1968 and later held them up as a model for contemporary composers who wanted to know more about writing music for timpani. It wasn’t until after having performed a few of them, I had the idea of using a sabbatical leave to record them all and publish a didactic DVD about them. For anyone not familiar with higher education, full-time professors are normally granted one or two semesters paid leave to take on a significant project. This idea was eagerly endorsed by UMaine’s administration and, indeed, they supported me all along the way, from production to marketing.
While I was working on the preparation of all the pieces in the set, I realized that I didn’t really need the music, so I memorized them all. This yielded a few benefits: there would be no music stand to block the camera angles; I could watch the changing beating spots that had to be very precise to hear the given effect; I could watch my hands when flipping the sticks in March; and finally, the music had a flow that would be difficult to achieve while reading. A few years later, when I was judging a competition in France, I discovered that some of the teachers there made their students memorize all their timpani parts – including orchestral excerpts!
For the overhead camera to be able to capture all four timpani, I had to fly it higher than most ceilings, so our concert hall, the Collins Center for the Arts, lent me the hall for an entire day. We were able to fly the overhead cam from the lighting rigging in the hall. The other consequence of this arrangement was that I had to record all of them that same day. With a few minor exceptions, I was pleased with the way it turned out. Now that DVD isn’t a thing anymore, I have posted much of the material on my YouTube channel for anyone to see. Since YouTube doesn’t have an angles button like DVD has, I only put up the pre-edited camera angle changes so it is like watching it on a DVD. But you can listen to the artist’s commentary while watching the videos in English, French, and Spanish. I also added some practice tips for each of the pieces to my YouTube channel.
What words of wisdom would you share with students?
Career options are narrowing due to a myriad of factors like advances in technology, market forces, budget constraints, etc. At the same time, the supply of many highly qualified players is increasing. So the prospects for working as a certain type of performer, and teachers in higher education, seem grim. But, there are many ancillary jobs in the music business that are rewarding and well-paid. On the education side, our society desperately needs music educators in the public schools. Research into the intrinsic value of music education for the youth of our nation has unfortunately been gravely underreported. It needs to be shouted from the rooftops! Having said all of that, if a student must pursue a performance career, they should be prepared for a freelance career, at least until a full-time opportunity presents itself. That means, you have to be able to do everything: concert percussion (snare, timpani, mallets, aux.), drum set (jazz, fusion, world beats), Latin percussion (salsa, merengue, etc.). You need to be able to read music, and you need to be able to improvise. You also will need to maintain a private teaching studio as part of the mix. It isn’t an easy life, but it will be what you make of it. And best of all: you’ll be making music!!
