Matchstick Percussion

Our Strike Anywhere Initiative aims to broaden the repertoire by incorporating more inclusive and accessible instrumentation. Pieces under this Initiative are designed to be playable using compact instruments. We aspire to cultivate a more diverse musical landscape, enabling performances in non-traditional venues and facilitating participation by lower-income schools and ensembles due to the affordability of the instruments required.

This initiative aims to expand the accessibility of the percussion repertoire by restricting instrumentation to portable, common instruments and objects. Through this new repertoire, they hope to reach new audiences by removing the limiting factors in choice of venue, as well as inspire audiences and expand their idea of what percussion music can be. The first round of commissions for this project have been funded by the Racial Justice, Anti-Discrimination and Democratic Practices Creative Activity Grant through the College of Arts & Architecture at Penn State and include works by Joshua Mallard, Han Hitchen, Jamie Koller, and Tucker Johnson.”

Matchstick Percussion is a Maryland-based percussion quartet dedicated to new music and expanding the percussion repertoire. Through performance, they aim to promote opportunity for underrepresented artists, bridge the gap in racial and gender inconsistencies, and advocate for equity in the medium through collaborative performances and educational outreach.

Over the past five years Matchstick Percussion has performed over thirty concerts across seven states and the District of Columbia, including concerts the Kennedy Center and a number of Universities. Matchstick Percussion has appeared as a featured group at several music festivals and events including the Penn State New-Music Festival Symposium, Rhoneymeade Festival in Centre County PA, and the Percussive Arts Society’s Maryland/Delaware Chapter Day of Percussion. In 2022, they received a scholarship to participate as a pre-formed ensemble in the Sō Percussion Summer Institute at Princeton University.

Matchstick Percussion’s newest project is a series of commissions titled Strike Anywhere. This initiative aims to expand the accessibility of the percussion repertoire by restricting instrumentation to portable, common instruments and objects. Through this new repertoire, they hope to reach new audiences by removing the limiting factors in choice of venue, as well as inspire audiences and expand their idea of what percussion music can be. The first round of commissions for this project have been funded by the Racial Justice, Anti-Discrimination and Democratic Practices Creative Activity Grant through the College of Arts & Architecture at Penn State and include works by Joshua Mallard, Han Hitchen, Jamie Koller, and Tucker Johnson.