MEET THE MUSICIANS

PERCUSSION SEAN KLEVE

Percussionist Sean Kleve is a performer and promoter for contemporary classical music. As the founder of Baldwin-Wallace College’s new music ensemble entitled l(a, Sean directed the ensemble in a variety of repertoire from composers such as, Xenakis, Cage, Reich, and Feldman.

Today, Sean’s most recent accomplishments have resulted in performances at Alice Tully Hall with the Manhattan School of Music Percussion Ensemble, Merkin Hall, Miller Theater, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, The Juilliard School, the Aspen Summer Music Festival, Symphony Space, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Sean was recently named the percussion soloist with Mimesis (www.mimesisensemble.org), a New York City based ensemble dedicated to the performance of living composers. Sean’s exciting repertoire of solo and chamber music spans from Bach to Xenakis. As a performer of new music, Sean has worked with many important composers and artists including Steven Schick, Charles Wourinen, Steve Reich, Paul Lansky, Gunther Schuller, Krzysztof Penderecki, John Heiss, and Joan Tower. 

Not only known for his performances of contemporary music, Sean has also been successful in the orchestral field. Sean has performed with the Grammy Award Winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Huntsville Symphony, the Youngstown Symphony, and the Erie Philharmonic.

Besides performing, Sean is also an experienced and passionate teacher. Sean has been teaching private lessons for over 15 years and has had students continue on to professional careers in music education and performance. Not only teaching privately, Sean has taught summer classes at the Estrin-Mino School of Music in music history, music theory, and ear-training. At the college level, Sean has given a master class on timpani technique and practice habits at Baldwin-Wallace College.

Born in Cleveland Ohio, Sean completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Percussion Performance at Baldwin-Wallace College. Later, Sean moved to New York where he earned his Masters Degree in Classical Percussion from the Manhattan School of Music. Sean’s teachers have included Duncan Patton, Chris Lamb, Steven Schick, Josh Ryan, Andrew Pongracz, Doug Howard, Tom Stubbs, and Paul Yancich.