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LA Music Festival

Originally percussion-focused, TAPS now welcomes pianists, string players, and percussionists to explore the music of Steve Reich, Béla Bartók, Andy Akiho, and beyond.

LA Music Festival 

| June 13-29, California State University Long Beach (CSULB)

Step into two thrilling weeks of percussion exploration at the TAPS LA Music Festival. This year, we welcome 20 talented fellows for an intensive program filled with performances, masterclasses, group lessons, chamber music coaching, and a mock audition. This year's festival will be larger than ever and will feature Andy Akiho as our Artist-in-Residence, giving fellows the extraordinary chance to perform side by side with Andy at our end of festival concert. After two weeks of immersive experiences and mentorship, fellows depart with developed technique, new inspiration, and gear to advance their musical journey.


Tuition for the full program is $2,250, which includes on-campus housing and meals for two weeks.


At TAPS, we’re committed to providing a vibrant, immersive environment where fellows can grow, experiment, and connect with other musicians from around the world. Our mission drives us to make this experience accessible, inclusive, and transformative for every participant. Limited financial assistance is available and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

2024_04_29 Music for 18 Musicians at NWS by Alex Markow-1791 copy_edited.jpg

LA Music Festival 

June 15–30, California State University  Long Beach (CSULB)

2024_04_29 Music for 18 Musicians at NWS by Alex Markow-1791 copy_edited.jpg

Join us for an unforgettable experience of music, mentorship, and community!

  • Steve Reich’s iconic Music for 18 Musicians

  • Acclaimed composer and percussionist Andy Akiho as Artist-in-Residence

  • Mock Audition prizes from Majestic, Dragonfly Percussion, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth, Marimba One, and Black Swamp Percussion

​

All admitted fellows receive full fellowships covering tuition, housing in CSULB dorms, and meals on campus—thanks to our generous donors.

An administrative fee applies upon acceptance.

​

In addition to performances and immersive experiences, the festival features a distinguished faculty who lead a series of masterclasses and chamber music coachings. Fellows also participate in a mock audition, with all participants receiving new gear to go home with. At TAPS, we are committed to equity and access, ensuring that the transformative experiences we offer are available to students of all backgrounds, regardless of financial circumstances.

Apply for Instrument

Requirements:     

​

1. One page artistic resume

2. Audition video: View audition requirements here

3. Application fee 

​

Application Deadline and Fees:

November 1st - December 31st:  $70

January 1st - January 31st:  $90

February 1st - March 3rd:  $110

​

Videos can be in one take or separate takes. If in separate takes, please put all files into one video and submit only one link.

Please upload your video to a cloud service such as YouTube, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. and double check the link is not private.

Applications Closed

Apply for Internship

Requirements:     

 

1. Resume 

2. Statement of Intention: Short video explaining why the internship program interests you and what you would like to learn from it

​​ 

​​All applications are due March 3rd, 2025 at 11:59pm PST.

Results will be announced mid March.

​

​Note: Fellows who have been involved in TAPS for two or more years are no longer eligible to apply.

Applications Closed

2025 Festival Highlights Include:

Repertoire

  • Xylophone

    Copland

    Appalachian Spring

    5 after [48]- 4 after [49]

    Instrument

    Composer

    Piece

    Part

    Marimba

    Bach

    Solo of Choice

    Minimum 2 Min

    Glockenspiel

    Mozart

    Magic Flute

    Finale

    Marimba

    Contemporary

    Solo of Choice

    Mvt. III D-E / 

    Mvt. IV P-R

    Snare Drum

    Niesen

    Clarinet Concerto

    10 after [3]-[4]/

    29-9 after [32]

    Glockenspiel

    Shostakovich

    Symphony No. 10

    [98]-end

    Tambourine

    Dvorak

    Carnival Overture

    beg-4 before [C]

    Cymbals

    Dvorak

    Scherzo Capriccioso

    [Q]-end

  • 1. Movement from any standard major concerto of choice
        i.e. Schumann, Dvorak, Haydn

    2. Optional: Chamber music recording - Highly encouraged

  • 1. Movement from any standard major concerto of choice
        i.e. Schumann, Dvorak, Haydn

    2. Optional: Chamber music recording - Highly encouraged

  • 1. Movement from any standard major concerto of choice
        i.e. Schumann, Dvorak, Haydn

    2. Optional: Chamber music recording - Highly encouraged

Faculty for TAPS LA 2026

Ted Atkatz is a renowned performer, educator, recording artist, and composer. He is the former Principal Percussionist and Assistant Timpanist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Ted now resides in Los Angeles, where he is the Director of Percussion Studies at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University at Long Beach. He also is the Director of the Percussion Department at the Colburn School and is the Director of the Colburn Contemporary Ensemble. His non-profit organization, The Ted Atkatz Percussion Seminar (TAPS) has been held around the world, and this past summer hosted the TAPS LA Music Festival with public performances around the Los Angeles area. His college studies began at Boston University and then New England Conservatory, where he studied with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. After receiving a master’s degree at NEC, Ted went on to Temple University to study with Alan Abel of the Philadelphia Orchestra. As an active studio musician, Ted has performed on over 70 motion picture soundtracks, including “Frozen,” “The Jungle Book” and “Star Wars Episode IX.” Ted has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, and the Santa Barbara Symphony. Ted is also an active singer and songwriter. His band NYCO has released three albums: Two (2005), Realize (2008), and Future Imperfect (2012). NYCO performed with the Alabama Symphony in 2018.
Ted Atkatz
Former Principal Percussion
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Percussion

Bio 

Andy Akiho is a “trailblazing” (Los Angeles Times) Pulitzer Prize finalist and seven-time GRAMMY®-nominated composer whose bold works unravel intricate and unexpected patterns while surpassing preconceived boundaries of classical music. Called "increasingly in-demand” by The New York Times, Akiho has earned international acclaim for his large-scale works that emphasize the natural theatricality of live performance. He is the only composer to be nominated for a GRAMMY® in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition category in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Recent highlights include the world premieres of several major works, most notably Nisei — a sweeping new concerto for cellist Jeffrey Zeigler — which headlined this year’s Sun Valley Music Festival. Another standout: Sculptures, a groundbreaking, triple GRAMMY®-nominated work for Omaha Symphony honoring renowned visual artist Jun Kaneko. Finally, BeLonging, a powerful new collaboration with Imani Winds with strong political undertones, also made highly acclaimed live and recorded debuts, receiving two GRAMMY® nominations. Equally at home writing chamber music and symphonies, Akiho is the Oregon Symphony’s 2023-2024 composer-in-residence. Other recent engagements include commissioned premieres by the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony, China Philharmonic, Guangzhou Symphony, Oregon Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Music@Menlo, The Industry, and a sold-out run of “Seven Pillars” at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, choreographed by Benjamin Millepied and performed by Sandbox Percussion and LA Dance Project. Akiho has been recognized via many prestigious awards and organizations including the Rome Prize, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize, Harvard University Fromm Commission, Barlow Endowment, New Music USA, and Chamber Music America. His compositions have been featured by organizations such as Bang on a Can, American Composers Forum, The Intimacy of Creativity in Hong Kong, and the Heidelberg Festival. An active steel pannist, Akiho has performed his works with Imani Winds, the LA Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella Series, the Berlin Philharmonic’s Scharoun Ensemble, the International Drum Festival in Taiwan, and more. Akiho’s recordings No One To Know One, The War Below, Seven Pillars, Oculus, Sculptures, and BeLonging feature brilliantly crafted compositions inspired by his primary instrument, the steel pan. As a pannist, Akiho has a deeply physical relationship with playing, which undoubtedly informs his compositions. His style is further shaped by his nontraditional path as a composer: having spent most of his 20s playing steel pan by ear in Trinidad and New York City, Akiho only began writing music at age 28. Still, these social and musical roots remain foundational. Akiho frequently composes into the late hours at coffee shops, nightclubs, and restaurants, taking breaks to get to know those around him. Similarly, Akiho develops relationships with his collaborators, as he writes for people, not instruments. Akiho was born in 1979 in Columbia, SC, and is currently based in Portland, OR and New York City.
Andy Akiho
Artist/Composer in Residence
Composer
Percussion

Bio 

Praised as “spectacular” by the Los Angeles Times and “extraordinary” by the Ventura County Star, the Times describes percussionist Ji Hye Jung as “a centered player who can give the impression of being very still yet at all places at once”. Ms. Jung began concertizing in her native South Korea at the age of nine where she performed more than 100 concerts including solo appearances with every major orchestra in Korea. Soon after coming to the United States in 2004, Ms. Jung garnered consecutive first prizes at the 2006 Linz International Marimba Competition and the 2007 Yale Gordon Concerto Competition. With percussion repertoire still in its formative stages, Ms. Jung feels strongly about collaborating with composers to further the creation of a new voice for the art form. She has commissioned and premiered works by several important composers including, Kevin Puts, Alejandro Viñao, Paul Lansky, John Serry, Lukas Ligeti, and Jason Treuting. In 2013 she made the premier recording of Michael Torke’s marimba concerto Mojave and in 2014 recorded Phillip Glass’ Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Orchestra for the Naxos label. Ms. Jung frequently performs with many of today’s most important conductors and instrumentalists. For six years she has served as principal percussionist with the west coast-based chamber music ensemble Camerata Pacifica, with whom she has premiered works by Bright Sheng and Huang Ruo. She has also recorded Stravinsky’s Les Noces with JoAnn Falletta at the Virginia Arts Festival, performed as soloist with David Robertson conducting an all Messiaen program at Carnegie Hall, and made her concerto debut with the Houston Symphony under the baton of Hans Graf in 2005. Other performance credits include appearances at Portugal’s Tomarimbando Festival, the West Cork Chamber Music Festival in Ireland, The Intimacy of Creativity in Hong Kong, the Grand Teton Music Festival, Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein Festival, and the Grachtenfestival in Holland. In 2015 Ji Hye Jung was named Associate Professor of Percussion at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. She previously served as Associate Professor of Percussion at the University of Kansas for six years. An active educator and clinician, Jung has presented masterclasses at the Curtis Institute, the Peabody Conservatory, Rice University, Beijing’s Central Conservatory, and the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland. Ji Hye Jung completed a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, both under the tutelage of Robert van Sice. As an artist endorser, she proudly represents Pearl/Adams instruments, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, and Zildjian cymbals.
Ji Hye Jung
Soloist
Artist
Percussion

Bio 

A percussionist and conductor of great versatility and virtuosity, George Nickson has been hailed by The New York Times as “a performer handling his role with ease and flair.” Prior to Dallas, Nickson served as Principal Percussionist of the Sarasota Orchestra from 2012-2019. He received the Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School where he studied with Daniel Druckman and completed his undergraduate studies at the New England Conservatory with Will Hudgins. In addition to his position with the Sarasota Orchestra, Nickson has had the privilege of performing with the orchestras of Boston, Detroit, Washington D.C., Toronto, Honolulu and San Francisco. Recent highlights include world premiere concerto performances at ensembleNEWSRQ in Sarasota, Florida and at Tanglewood, solo performances at The Spoleto Festival, and solo recording projects that can be heard on NAXOS, Bridge and Albany Records. Nickson frequently appears as conductor in notable performances with ensembleNEWSRQ, including world premieres, Charles Wuorinen’s New York Notes and Le Marteau sans Maitre of Pierre Boulez.
George Nickson
Principal Percussion
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Percussion

Bio 

Shaun joined the Phoenix Symphony as Principal Percussion in November of 2013. Mr. Tilburg’s previous position was as the Principal Percussionist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, where he played from 2007 until 2011. It was in Hong Kong that Shaun met his future wife, Madoka Suzuki. The pair moved back to the United States in the summer of 2011 and were married on a balcony overlooking Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. Shaun has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and San Antonio Symphony. He has received fellowships with the Tanglewood Music Center, National Repertoire Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Opera of the Ozarks and Music Academy of the West. In 2016, riding the success of his snare drum method book ‘The Regimen’, Shaun founded a music publication company called Pocket Publications. With 20 publications and growing, Pocket Publications has quickly established itself as an innovator in the industry. Shaun’s compositions have premiered all over the world, including the USA, Canada, Netherlands, Spain, Germany and Norway. Mr. Tilburg has given master classes at the AZ Percussive Arts Society Day of Percussion, the Colburn School, the New York Day of Xylophone and has also given classes in many universities across Asia. He taught at Arizona State University from 2014-2021, and joined the faculty of the Lynn Conservatory of Music in 2016.
Shaun Tilburg
Principal Percussion
The Phoenix Symphony
Percussion

Bio 

Apply for Instrument

Requirements:     

​

1. One page artistic resume

2. Audition video: Requirements here

3. Application fee 

​

Application Deadline and Fees:

November 1st - December 31st:  $60

January 1st - February 27th:  $95

​

Instruments Accepted:

Percussion (20) & Piano (4)

​

Videos can be in one take or separate takes. If in separate takes, please put all files into one video and submit only one link.

Please upload your video to a cloud service such as YouTube, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. and double check the link is not private.

Apply for Internship

Requirements:     

 

1. Resume 

2. Statement of Intention: Short video explaining why the internship program interests you and what you would like to learn from it

​​ 

​​All applications are due March 3rd, 2026 at 11:59pm PST.

Results will be announced mid March.

​

Financial Aid Information

Personal Statement for Financial Assistance


To be considered for financial assistance, applicants must include a personal statement which includes why financial aid is critical to their attendance. We encourage applications for financial assistance only from students who would be unable to attend without it. The personal statement should include the following:


    - Describe your circumstances and explain how financial assistance would enable you to
      participate in the festival.
    - Share how attending will impact your musical growth.
    - Indicate the amount you are able to contribute toward tuition.
    - Applicants may include any additional information they feel is relevant, such as other
      scholarships or support they have applied for, or comments about school or community
      resources.

​

Please upload the personal statement with your application as a PDF document. Please ensure your name is on the statement. 


Acknowledgement


I understand that financial assistance is limited and awarded on a case-by-case basis by the
TAPS Board. While every application will be carefully considered, no assistance is guaranteed,
and full tuition coverage will not be provided. 

Percussion

Marimba

      - 4 mallet solo of choice (3+ minutes)

​

Snare Drum

      - Delecluse, Douze Etudes, No 1, 6, 9 or 10 (choose one)

      - Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf, Reh 49-51

      - Prokofiev, Lt Kije, Reh 1-2

​

Xylophone

      - Gershwin, Porgy and Bess

​

Glockenspiel

      - Mozart, The Magic Flute

Piano

1. Movement from any standard major concerto of choice
    i.e. Schumann, Dvorak, Haydn

​

2. Optional: Chamber music recording - Highly encouraged

Repertoire

Repertoire

Percussion

Marimba

      - 4 mallet solo of choice (3+ minutes)

​

Snare Drum

      - Delecluse, Douze Etudes, No 1, 6, 9 or 10 (choose one)

      - Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf, Reh 49-51

      - Prokofiev, Lt Kije, Reh 1-2

​

Xylophone

      - Gershwin, Porgy and Bess

​

Glockenspiel

      - Mozart, The Magic Flute

Piano

1. Movement from any standard major concerto of choice
    i.e. Schumann, Dvorak, Haydn

​

2. Optional: Chamber music recording - Highly encouraged

Faculty for
TAPS LA 2025

Ted Atkatz
Former Principal Percussion
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Percussion

Bio 

Andy Akiho
Artist/Composer in Residence
Composer
Percussion

Bio 

Ji Hye Jung
Soloist
Artist
Percussion

Bio 

George Nickson
Principal Percussion
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Percussion

Bio 

Shaun Tilburg
Principal Percussion
The Phoenix Symphony
Percussion

Bio 

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