KSU Percussion Faculty

Kurt Gartner

Kurt Gartner, Professor of Music, teaches applied percussion and percussion methods. Also, he directs the Percussion Ensemble, Keyboard Percussion Quartets, and the Latin Jazz Ensemble. As a Tilford Fellow, he coordinated an interdisciplinary study of Cuban arts. In the past, he was a Big 12 Faculty Fellow, collaborating with the percussion studio and jazz program at the University of Missouri. There, he provided instruction and performances in Afro-Cuban music and applications of technology in music. He has served as Associate Director of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, Special Assistant to the Provost, and Coordinator of the university's Peer Review of Teaching Program.

Gartner's orchestral experience includes the principal timpani position with the Blue Lake Festival Orchestra (as well as band) in Michigan, and percussion/timpani positions in the Chamber Orchestra of the Smoky Valley, the Lafayette (IN) Symphony Orchestra, the Danville (IL) Symphony, the Lawrence (KS) Symphony, the Lawrence (KS) Chamber Orchestra, and the Topeka Symphony. As a jazz musician, Gartner has shared the stage with luminaries such as "Blue" Lou Marini, Mike Mainieri; in world music, he has toured and recorded with tabla master Sandip Burman, and commercial venues included cruise ship drumming. He has performed on a showcase concert and presented additional clinics and performances at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. He is an educational consultant for Remo, Sabian, and Vic Firth.

Prior to his appointment at KSU, Gartner served as Associate Professor of Bands at Purdue University. In 2001, he completed his Doctor of Arts degree at the University of Northern Colorado. At UNC, he directed ensembles, taught jazz history, and was the Assistant Director of the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival. Also, he received the Graduate Dean's Citation for Outstanding Dissertation for his research of the late percussion legend, Tito Puente. Gartner is a founding member and contributing composer of the Indiana-based Los Blancos Latin Jazz Band. He is the technology editor for the journal Percussive Notes.

Neil Dunn

Neil is the Production Coordinator and Instructor for K-State dance, teaching Rhythmic Notation, Composition I for Dancers, Dance and Technology, West African Music and Dance, and Dance Musician Training. Neil also teaches applied percussion lessons, West African drumming, and coaches percussion ensembles in the Kansas State Percussion Studio. Neil earned a Master of Music with Percussion Emphasis from the University of Arizona in 2002 and is Principal Timpanist for the Arizona Opera Company and the Topeka Symphony.

Neil has worked as a dance accompanist since 1994 and has performed with dance at ACDFA, PASIC, and Jazz Dance World Congress, in addition to international venues. Neil's current research involves the study of West African Social Dance and Music on traditional drums and the African xylophone. E-mail Neil Dunn

Houston Fleischmann

Houston Fleischmann is the graduate teaching assistant for the
percussion studio and marching band program at Kansas State University.
Houston completed his bachelor's degree in music performance from
Washington State University in the spring of 2020, studying under Professor
David Jarvis and Dr. Danh Pham. As an accomplished member of the WSU School of Music, the Washington All-State Marching Band, and the Washington-Idaho Symphony Orchestra, Houston brings a wealth of knowledge to the KSU concert and marching programs.