09/02/2025 RNCM Day of Percussion

RNCM graduate Andrea Vogler enjoys a varied portfolio career as a percussionist.

She has played with orchestras including the Halle, BBC Philharmonic and English National Ballet; and works regularly with Royal Northern Sinfonia, Manchester Camerata and Northern Chamber Orchestra.

Her education and outreach work includes project design, staff training and mentoring for Live Music Now, Jessie’s Fund and NCO. She is also part of Manchester Camerata’s award winning ‘Music in Mind’ team delivering pioneering group music therapy sessions for people living with Dementia and their carers.

She has worked in West End theatre, toured the UK as a recitalist for the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, and is an active chamber musician. Recent chamber projects include interdisciplinary collaborations with Noisy Toys Robotic Orchestra and MMU; and performance poet Louise Wallwein (MBE).

Her broad range of teaching experience has led to roles as a specialist Clinician for BASBWE, RNCM Day of Percussion, the National Association of Percussion Teachers, and Percussive Arts Society UK.

She was the lead consultant for the new ABRSM Percussion syllabus and is the recipient of an RNCM Teaching and Learning Award in recognition of her excellence and innovation in teaching and learning.

Andrea is on the teaching staff at the RNCM, Junior RNCM, and Chetham’s School of Music.

Tom Greenleaves is Principal Timpanist of the famous Gewandhausorchester in Leipzig – the oldest civic symphony orchestra in the world, and guest timpanist of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Staatskapelle Berlin, Staatskapelle Dresden, the Bavarian State Opera, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Budapest Festival Orchestra, and many others. 

Marta Klimasara is a highly-acknowledged percussionist, famed also outside the borders of her new home; her international renown rests not only on her tournées in France, Sweden, Japan and South Africa but also on her many successes in international contests. Before winning the ARD contest—one of the most famed competitions in its field — she had already been awarded the first prize in the “2nd World Marimba Competition” in Japan in 1999 as well as the second prize in the “3rd Krzystof Penderecki International Competition of Contemporary Music” in Krakow. The young artist holds scholarships from the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe and the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg and was commended by the European Cultural Foundation in Strasburg for her outstanding musical and artistic personality. In 2004 she became professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart.

Marta Klimasara takes part in concerts with orchestras such as RSO Stuttgart, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, National Philharmony Warsaw, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the RSO Saarbrücken and is a guest on many international festivals in cities including Vienna, Paris, Warsaw and St. Petersburg. She also produces radio and television recordings with the Bavarian and Hessian radio institutions, with the SWR, France Musique, SR 2 KulturRadio and Deutschlandradio.

Her solo debut recording I Ching was released in spring 2002 with triptychon. She plays on a Malletech Stilletto marimba.

Mick Doran is Principal Percussionist of the English National Opera Orchestra.

After studying at the Royal Academy of Music he was appointed Principal Percussionist for Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet before moving to ENO.

He also enjoys a busy freelance career with the UK’s premier orchestras, opera and ballet companies, as well as working on many top film scores, West End musicals and playing contemporary music and jazz.

As a Professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music he enjoys passing on his experiences to a new generation of players.

One of Britain’s most diverse percussionists, Joby is equally at home performing with Peter Gabriel at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and The Who at Wembley Stadium as reimagining Blade Runner at Sydney Opera House and Ibiza Classics at the Royal Albert Hall.

Known for his virtuosic performances, Joby’s solo projects Powerplant and Pioneers of Percussion have taken him from Berghain, Berlin to SESC Pompéia, São Paulo. Recent releases for Signum include Gabriel Prokofiev’s ‘Concerto for Bass Drum’, Eric Whitacre’s ‘Marimba Quartets’ and BBC Radio 3’s Album of the Week ‘A Percussionist’s Songbook’.

Often found at London’s Abbey Road and Air Studios, Joby’s playing can be heard on major film and TV scores, notably leading the percussion sections on the Black Panther and Ant-man franchises, Spirited, The Harder They Fall, Rocketman, Ad Astra, The Darkest Hour, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Doctor Who.

In demand as an educationalist, Joby created the Virtual Marimba Choir, which brought together 227 percussionists from around the world during Spring 2020.

Gabor Dornyei is one of the most in demand and successful Solo Artists, Session Drummers, and Drum Clinicians/Educators of his generation who emerged out of Europe in recent years.

Gabor’s diverse talent led him to perform all around the Globe, including USA, Asia, Africa, all over Europe & UK, Scandinavia, Russia and countless other places.

This outstanding drummer performed at the London Jazz Festival, Sziget Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Love Supreme, London Latin Jazz Festival amongst hundreds of others and participated in the London production of MJ Thriller Live World Tour for three consecutive years. The UK resident drummer and band leader has been listed and shared the stage with some of the World’s leading drummers, such as Billy Cobham and Gavin Harrison at Dresdner Drum Festival, Steve Smith and Ian Paice at Adams Drum Show in the Netherlands, with Steve Gadd, Marvin Smitty Smith and Terry Bozzio at Opole Drum Fest in Poland, Peter Erskine, Gregg Bisonette and Thomas Pridgen at London Drum Show, Chris Coleman in Moscow, Jojo Mayer in Hungary and at many-many other major international Drum Shows.

As solo recording artist Gabor released three critically acclaimed DVD-s, 1. “Drums, Music and Friends”  2.“Thunder Duo (feat Kornel Horvath) with Dom Famularo” (digitally available from Hudson Music NYC) and 3.“Rhythm Frontier” -featuring world percussionist Pete Lockett- and also released two CDs under his own name. As session player he’s contributed to over 100 albums, including Gold and Platinum selling pop-rock albums and several cartoon and movie soundtracks for Walt Disney amongst other UK/EU sessions.

One of Gabor’s real passions is drum education, and he’s achieved a “Master’s Level 7 PG Cert qualification at the University of East London (UEL) and he’s been awarded with FHEA (Fellow of Higher Education Academy in the UK).

He’s Head Of Drums at DIME-ONLINE (Detroit Institute of Music Education-Online UK/USA), drum faculty at ICMP-London (The Institute of contemporary Music Performance)  and Visiting Professor at the SWISS DRUM Academy (SDA). He’s educating his  private students at GABBEY ROAD Studio, London via Skype (from all around the globe) or in person in North West London, UK..

His Drum Clinics and Masterclasses are also hugely in demand, he’s held packed events at the Los Angeles Music Academy (LAMA), University of Southern California(USC), ICMP, BIMM, TECH, ACM, Drumsense, etc in the UK, Berlin Drumtrainer, Hamburg School of Music, Frankfurt Music Academy and Salzgitter Drummer Meeting in Germany, Swiss Drum Academy, Croatia Drum Camp, Slagwerkkrant Drum Fest Netherlands, etc..amongst hundreds of others.

His two most recent solo filming “ Moving Around The Kit” on DRUMCHANNEL in Los Angeles, California, USA (with Don Lombardi) and “Percussive Drumming and Independence” on DRUMEO in Vancouver, Canada has brought him worldwide success, but even before that the global drumming media constantly featured him over the last decade as well. He’s been interviewed in Modern Drummer Magazine, Rhythm, Drummer, Drums&Percussion, Batterie, Drum Club, Stick Magazine, Top Drummer, Perkusysta, Slagwerkkrant and lots more.

In 2016 Gabor started performing several international jazz festival Headliner Performances with American guitarist-multi instrumentalist Stanley Jordan.

At the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California in 2016 TYCOON PERCUSSION (Thailand/USA) has released the “Gabor Dornyei Signature Drum Pack” including drum set add on percussion instruments with great global success. Also since 2016 the “VIC FIRTH Gabor Dornyei Signature Sticks” are in production and available from Gabor’s website. (Shop Menu)

In 2017 Gabor’s film at DRUMEO has been listed between the “ Top 10” together with artists such as Peter Erskine, Bernard Purdie and Billy Cobham amongst others.

Gabor Dornyei is worldwide endorser of: PEARL Drums, ZILDJIAN Cymbals, REMO Drumheads, VIC FIRTH Drumsticks, TYCOON Percussion, ROLAND V-Drums, HARDCASE, KICKPORT and SKYGEL.

The Central Band of the Royal Air Force, founded in 1920 and based at RAF Northolt, was the first ensemble outside the United States to receive the prestigious John Philip Sousa Citation for Musical Excellence, highlighting its reputation for the highest standards of performance. Notable artists, such as Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones from the pop-rock band McFly, have collaborated and performed with the Central Band, which recently premièred a new commission, Lights Out in Space by Andrew Pearce, and recorded soundtracks for the 2022 film Lancaster.