The IronWorks Percussion
Duo, a Los Angeles
based percussion group, was founded by Dr. Dave Gerhart
and Axel Clarke. Though they gave their first concert
in December of 2007, the group began much earlier. Dave
and Axel were peers in the undergraduate percussion
program at California State University, Long Beach
(CSULB) and performed together in countless concerts
throughout their time at the university. After
graduating, both joined the CSULB faculty as
instructors in the percussion department. The pair’s
desire to continue working together, and to explore new
pieces and avenues of percussion, gave them the idea to
form a new duo. At the 2006 Percussive Arts Society
International Convention (PASIC) in Austin, Texas, Dave
and Axel decided to dive headfirst into the
collaboration and took their name from the local BBQ
restaurant where they first formulated the group.
The
goal of IronWorks
Percussion Duo is to explore all the
possibilities of percussion performance within the
duo format. Its performances blend pieces by
established composers with new works by
up-and-coming artists in addition to works by the
group's founders. From formal structures to
improvisation, from traditional instrumentation to
found objects, from acoustic instruments to
electronic soundscapes IronWorks
Percussion Duo strives to incorporate as much of
the broad spectrum of percussion music into its
performances as possible. The group started a
composition contest in January, 2008 to expand the
repertoire of available duo works for the modern
percussion field.
The
goal of IronWorks
Percussion Duo is to explore all the
possibilities of percussion performance within the
duo format. Its performances blend pieces by
established composers with new works by
up-and-coming artists in addition to works by the
group's founders. From formal structures to
improvisation, from traditional instrumentation to
found objects, from acoustic instruments to
electronic soundscapes IronWorks
Percussion Duo strives to incorporate as much of
the broad spectrum of percussion music into its
performances as possible. The group started a
composition contest in January, 2008 to expand the
repertoire of available duo works for the modern
percussion field.
Axel
Clarke has
been active as a performer and instructor in the
Los Angeles area for 13 years. He holds B.A. and
M.A. degrees in Percussion Performance from Cal
State Long Beach. As a teacher, he has been a
member of the Studio Faculty at Long Beach State
for 6 years and also directs the percussion
program at the prestigious Orange County High
School of the Arts. Axel’s performance and
recording credits include work with Sara Haze,
Chelsa Lena, Skanic, Kim Richmond Jazz Orchestra,
The Robin Cox Ensemble, DMP, Next Exit, Mehdi, and
several Steel drum ensembles. He can also be heard
in numerous multi-media exhibits in museums across
the country and in documentaries for Animal Planet
and Discovery. As a composer he is published by
Bachovich Music Publications.
Dr. Dave
Gerhart holds
a D.M.A. from the University of Southern
California in Percussion Performance with a
secondary emphasis in Music Education,
Ethnomusicology, and Music Industry &
Technology. Dr. Gerhart received a M.M. in
Percussion Performance and Instrumental Conducting
and a B.M. in Music Education from California
State University, Long Beach. He has been featured
on CDs with the Robin Cox Ensemble and most
recently with Steven Hartke on Sonic Scenery for
the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
As a freelance musician, Dave has performed under
Zubin Mehta, Mehli Mehta and has performed with
Yo-Yo Ma, Bobby McFerrin, Michael Kamen, Yefim
Bronfman, Ray Holman, and Robert Greenidge. His
principle teachers include Dr. Michael Carney,
Erik Forrester, Brad Dutz and Raynor Carroll,
principal percussionist of the L.A. Philharmonic.
Dave is currently the director of the CSULB
University Percussion Ensemble where he is also a
member of the applied music faculty. His
arrangements for percussion ensemble are published
by Go Fish Music.