Faculty Spotlight: Andrew Lynge
Dr. Andrew Lynge, Assistant Professor of Percussion at Jacksonville State
University, used his connection with a musical instrument company to help with tornado recovery.

Before coming to JSU, Lynge lived and studied in multiple cities around the
country. Hailing from Dallas, Texas, he graduated with his Master’s degree in Percussion Performance at Colorado State University and earned his Doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin. He was working in Dallas when he was invited to join the JSU faculty.

On campus, Lynge coordinates all the details of “the concert side of percussion performance.” He also organizes the entire curriculum for one-on-one lessons (called Applied Lessons) with percussion majors, advises all percussion majors, and directs the JSU Percussion Ensemble.

Lynge claims that Percussion Ensemble is one of his favorite classes to teach. Although he did not originally plan on teaching, college opened his eyes to the possibility. “As I reached the end of my undergraduate degree, I realized that I loved to perform and teach!” Lynge explained. “I quickly found that being a college percussion professor allowed one to explore both of these avenues at the same time, which is extremely fulfilling to me.”
In addition to teaching, Lynge is quite active with scholarly and creative activity. He was recently a clinician at the Lassiter Percussion Ensemble Camp in Georgia. Teaching at this camp allowed him to coach several pieces of music and, ultimately, conduct one at a concert. He enjoyed getting to work with high school students, and he looks forward to any opportunity to be part of the camp again.

An amazing accomplishment by Lynge is his artist endorsement with Remo Drum Heads. He had already met and talked with the company’s Manager of Education Bruce Jacoby, and set up an official endorsement when the tornado hit Jacksonville last spring. After the storm, Remo contacted Lynge to ask if JSU’s drum heads had been damaged, and after hearing that they had, Remo donated hundreds of dollars’ worth of free drum heads to the JSU music department. Because of Lynge’s endorsement,

Remo will continue to provide fresh drum heads to JSU every year, and they will continue to support Lynge’s academic pursuits, as well. One of the things Lynge loves about working at JSU is “the flexibility and support
that JSU provides towards [his] performing career and other scholarship/creative activities.” This year, he was able to participate in several such activities, including an invited artist position at Colorado State University, where he presented a clinic entitled “Developing an Orchestral Snare Drum Warm-up Routine,” taught a Master class to the CSU Percussion Ensemble, and preformed a concert.

Lynge is also active in professional service; he was recently elected Vice-
President/President Elect of the Alabama Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society. As President Elect, he will help facilitate the annual Alabama Chapter Day of Percussion events, which are major events in which internationally-acclaimed artists are invited to perform and present clinics in the state of Alabama. These events are open to the public, and Lynge anticipates that his participation in the Percussive Arts Society will be
beneficial to JSU as a whole.

In the short amount of time that he’s been at JSU, Dr. Lynge has had some
incredible adventures alongside his noteworthy accomplishments. In June of this year, he traveled to Argentina to perform in the 16 th International Patagonia Percussion Festival. He credits Dr. Tony McCutchen, Music Department Head, with helping him connect with festival organizers.

During the festival, he performed a solo percussion concert and presented two clinics on orchestral snare drumming. Additionally, he performed a Percussion Concerto called Invisible Cities, by Dinuk Wijeratne, with the
Dallas Winds. “Performing with the Dallas Winds was one of the best experiences of my life,” Dr. Lynge said. “The Dallas Winds is considered one of the top wind ensembles in the world, and the fact that my percussion quartet, Epoch Percussion Quartet, was able to perform with this group as soloists was very special.” He describes this particular performance as perhaps the biggest and most emotional one of his career; it is one he
vows to never forget.

The greatest part of this entire opportunity, he claimed, was the chance to
experience another culture. “Argentina has an amazing art scene, both in music and the visual arts. Also, the food there is so delicious!” He also enjoyed getting to meet other percussionists from around the globe while at the festival. Dr. Lynge’s trip to Argentina is already making an impact on his work at JSU—if for no other reason than the example he set while preparing for it.

He wants his students to see the importance of daily practice and hard work, and he lives by these disciplines himself. He also feels that his interactions with other percussionists who have their own musical perspectives regularly enrich his mind with new ideas, and consequently, the minds of his students are enriched. His international performance experience, he explains, not only enhances his résumé, but also reflects positively on the music department at JSU. He hopes that these opportunities (for which he is so grateful to have) will both attract and benefit music students at JSU for years to come.

To college students, he offers this advice: “Time management! College can be extremely time consuming…sit down and plan out a weekly schedule that includes all of your classes, study sessions, gym time, practice sessions, etc. The first step to showing up is knowing when to show up!” He acknowledges that the life of a musician (or any college student) can be very overwhelming, but assures that organizing and making the most of one’s time is a great first step in staying on top of things.

Just as Dr. Lynge expresses his gratitude to JSU for its support, so too is JSU
grateful for him. Already, he looks to the future with ambition; this month, he will perform concerts in Italy, and he has several other exciting opportunities on the horizon.