STEVEN MACHAMER
Orchestral Percussionist
American ex-pat Steven Machamer is currently freelancing with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and is on staff at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the University of New South Wales. Other recent work includes the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as part of numerous subscription series concerts. He holds a Bachelor of Music and a Masters of Music from The Julliard School in New York.
His professional appointments in the USA comprise of hundreds of performances with the American Symphony Orchestra, American Chamber Orchestra, Solisti New York, Little Orchestra Society, Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York City Symphony, New York Pops, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Long Island Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Opera Company of Boston, Stamford Symphony, The Jupiter Symphony and Virginia Symphony. Steven was also Principal Percussionist and/or Principal Timpanist with the New York City Opera National Company for seven seasons.
During his time at Julliard, Steven’s primary teachers were Saul Goodman (Timpanist with the New York Philharmonic) and Elden ‘Buster’ Bailey (Percussionist with the New York Philharmonic). He was awarded several scholarships for high achievement including those named for Saul Goodman and The Julliard Alumni Association. He was also awarded a fellowship grant from the National Orchestral Association.
Steven has performed on numerous orchestral occasions at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, as well as on Broadway and for international theatre productions that total over two dozen musicals. His tour history includes USA, Canada, Germany, Japan and Australia.
His works for snare drum and vibraphone have been published through Honey Rock, C. Allen and Permus Publications. He has also received praising editorial in Percussive Notes (the leading scholarly percussion trade journal) for his recorded contributions to the album ‘Vibrant Baroque’ featuring baroque transcriptions of chamber music for piano, violin and vibraphone. His publication of Bach’s ‘Suite for Lute in E minor BWV 996’ transcribed for the vibraphone gained equal praise.
Steven has contributed to recordings for many labels including Composers Recording Industry (CRI), Sine Qua Non, Angel, EMI, Newport Classics, Ashlar Records, Music Masters, Millennial Arts, Musical Heritage Society, the Australian ABC, commercial jingles and television, cable television and documentaries, and recent activities that include film, television and video sessions including lively percussion contributions for Australia’s highest earning entertainers The Wiggles.
In the early music field, Steven has performed on baroque kettle drums with The Grande Bande, New York Early Music Association, Amor Artists, Millennial Arts Production, the Sydney Philharmonic Choirs and other Sydney based choral groups.
Red Rock Drums: Jarrah 14×8 snare drum, vintage calf skin and synthetic heads
Web: www.youtube.com/user/BachJoy