John Pennington
John Pennington is an educator, composer, performer, author, producer and conductor.
Dr. Pennington is an orchestral percussionist, who currently performs with the South Dakota Symphony and the Music in the Mountains Music Festival Orchestra. Dr. Pennington is currently a Cultural Envoy for the State Department in the Middle East (most recently Lebanon) where he presents concerts, clinics and masterclasses. With over thirty recordings to date he has recorded for the Ensemble 21, Summit, Cristo, OCP, Tresona and Equilibrium labels. With performances on four continents and over twenty-five states he has performed on Prairie Home Companion and been a featured performer at six Percussive Arts Society International Conventions. Active as a composer and arranger, he has over twenty-five compositions for soloist, duo, chamber and films and dozens of arrangements for numerous instrumental and vocal combinations. Extensive studies in world music have included experience in African, Middle Eastern, Indonesian, Cuban and the South Indian Karnatak tradition. Recently, Dr. Pennington studied the Northern Hindustani tradition of music in Haridwar and Delhi, India and the Javanese and Balinese traditions of Indonesia. |
Download a PDF of this biography by clicking HERE
John is available for concerts, workshops, clinics and recording.
Contact John via phone or email: 605-274-4607 JcpMep86@gmail.com |
Educator
Long time collaborators, Camaldolese Monk Cyprian Consiglio (voice & guitar) and John Pennington (percussion) have drawn from a variety of holy texts, from a variety of traditions, saints grounded in the every day, and secular poets grounded in mysticism.
Having performed together in three continents, they have brought their unique compositions and performances to audiences throughout the globe. Equilibrium and Oregon Catholic Press publish and distribute their music. When words fail, we fall into the place where everything becomes music. Music by John and Cyprian Consiglio - click here
YouTube videos of John & Cyprian Consiglio - click here |
Performer
Trumpet performer, Stephen Dunn, Northern Arizona University, and John Pennington, Augustana University, have been performing together for over ten years. The title of their first CD, Old News refers to one of the compositions on the recording and the historical linkage of trumpet and percussion that has existed since the crusades of the dark and Middle Ages.
For approximately a thousand years trumpet and percussion have co-existed and been intrinsically linked together though military, noble, aristocratic, orchestral, and chamber music manifestations. Their concerts include commissioned works, original composition and arrangements of of Piazzola, Bach, Vivaldi and Ravel. Recent performances include a college tour of Kansas (2007) and a performance (2007) at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in Amherst, Massachusetts. |
Composer and Arranger
Fr. Matthew Pennington, author & voice and John Pennington, Percussion are the Brothers Pennington.
When you listen to stories from the sacred scripture, you are changed. The recording, Transformations, weaves music and storytelling together to vividly define a moment when places, people, and history are irrevocably altered. As you listen to the collection of stories, meditations, and prayers, you will hear familiar passages in a new way that will inspire and transform you. |
Recording Artist
Former Colorado colleagues Rochelle Mann, flute, (Emeritus, Fort Lewis College) and John Pennington have performed together for over sixteen years including performances at the International Flute Convention, College Music Society and the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors.
|