176 - Jonathan Singer

Included among the Village Voice's "Best of New York," percussionist Jonathan Singer has been praised for his "superb four-mallet technique" (New York Times) and described as an "artistic assault on the sensory order of nitrous oxide." His solo appearances include performances with the Detroit Symphony and Grammy-winning Nighthawks. As the leader of the Brooklyn-based novelty band, Xylopholks, Singer has performed across the United States, India, Japan, Brazil, and Canada and on the stages of Alice Tully Hall, City Center, 92nd Y, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has been heard on WNYC, Air America, and made on-screen appearances in Boardwalk Empire, Royal Pains, and David Grubin's Downtown Express. Singer is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and Queens College grant to study in India. Presently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the College of Staten Island and Queensborough Community College, Singer has had previous appointments at Brooklyn College and Queens College. Since 2013, Singer has taught xylophone performance and improvisation at the University of Delaware Xylophone Institute. Singer is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, Berklee College of Music, Queens College and CUNY Graduate Center, where he earned a doctorate with a dissertation focusing on improvised xylophone music. An endorser of the Malletech company, he helped design the Jon Singer signature xylophone mallet.


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0:00 Intro and Hello. Recent college bribe scandal

11:08 Welcome, Jon Singer

13:40 Xylophone Camp

15:30 Jon's 3rd Floor Percussion Bazaar

25:30 Matthew Henry: How to get students on their desired paths sooner?

36:10 Jacob Garcia: How to approach ragtime and when should students begin? Xylopholks

42:55 Solo Nagoya Marimbas?!

48:46 Casey: What's the sound? Booming sands

54:24 Your Fulbright to India?

1:03:40 Podcast trivia