Dr. Darin Kamstra is the Director of Jazz Studies and Percussion at Mesa State College, where he teaches applied percussion and composition, percussion pedagogy, jazz improvisation, and directs the Percussion Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, and one of the Jazz Combos. He is currently co-principal percussionist/timpanist with the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, an active jazz drummer across western Colorado with the Michelle Wilkinson Trio, Hill Street Jazz Quartet, and Bill Parish Productions, and in demand as a regional percussion and jazz clinician.

Dr. Kamstra holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Percussion Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was awarded two full fellowships to support his studies. He received degrees in both Percussion Performance and Music Theory and Composition from the University of Northern Colorado (M.M.) and Eastern Washington University (B.M. & B.A.).

Previously, Dr. Kamstra was a Lecturer of Music in Percussion at Western State College of Colorado. He served as an associate member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago on timpani and as principal timpanist of the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra; he has also performed with professional orchestras, jazz groups, and music theater companies throughout Illinois, Colorado, and the Pacific Northwest. Also an active composer, Dr. Kamstra’s works have been featured at regional, national, and international conventions and at universities across the United States. He is a contributor to the Percussive Arts Society Online Research Journal and serves as a Local Education Artist for Pearl/Adams Percussion.

To hear recordings featuring Dr. Kamstra, please see the percussion and jazz studies home pages.