Ensemble Concert Series

NIU Percussion Ensemble

Gregory Beyer and Ben Wahlund, Directors
Michel Rodriguez-Cintra, Afro-Cuban Dance Instructor

Spring Concert
Sunday, April 12, 2026
3:00 pm
Boutell Memorial Concert Hall

Program

NIU Percussion Ensemble Personnel

NIU Dance Program Students

About the NIU Percussion Ensemble

The award-winning NIU Percussion Ensemble is the principal vehicle through which NIU percussionists gain chamber music experiences that cover an array of genres and instruments. In addition to its on-campus performances each semester, annual community engagements include the DeKalb County-wide program Transformation Through Rhythm as well as performances at the Oak Crest Retirement Center and Tapalaluna. The ensemble has performed multiple times at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention: Percussion Ensemble Showcase (2003, 2009), Focus Day Performances (2009, 2013), World Percussion Showcase (2014), and the New Literature Session (2018).

Bios

Fulbright Scholar, composer, educator, and “prodigiously talented percussionist” (Chicago Classical Review), Gregory Beyer is a contemporary music specialist who blends the disciplines of orchestral, jazz, and world music into a singular artistic voice. He is the Artistic Director of Arcomusical, a non-profit organization spreading the joy of the Afro-Brazilian berimbau and related musical bows. To date, Arcomusical has released four albums of original music. Beyer is Professor and Director of Percussion Studies at Northern Illinois University School of Music, where he directs the New Music Festival and the Percussion Ensemble. He is a core member of the Chicago-based new music ensembles Dal Niente and the Grossman Ensemble at the University of Chicago’s Center for Contemporary Composition. Greg is proud to endorse Pearl/Adams drums and mallet instruments, Sabian Cymbals, Innovative Percussion mallets and sticks, and Evans drumheads.

Michel Rodriguez Cintra is a Cuban-born dancer, choreographer, acrobat, actor and teacher. He graduated from Escuela Nacional de Arte (National School of Arts) in Havana, Cuba. Upon graduation, he was chosen to join Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, where he became Principal Dancer and toured internationally. After moving to Chicago in 2008, Rodriguez Cintra danced with Hedwig Dances, where he performed in addition to choreographing his own works on the company. In 2013, Michel became an ensemble member with Lucky Plush Productions, generating multiple roles in various works in their signature devised dance-theater style, and touring nationally and internationally. Michel was a founding member of The Cambrians, where he performed and co-choreographed and toured nationally. He has been seen as a guest artist with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Concert Dance Inc., Khecari and Chicago Moving Company. 

Ben Wahlund is a Grammy-nominated music educator, composer, and performer who serves as full-time percussion instructor at Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, IL) where he was recently awarded the prestigious NIU Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction Award and serves as the Director of Percussion at the College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL) where he was awarded the College-Wide Outstanding Faculty Award. Mr. Wahlund serves as the President of the Illinois Percussive Arts Society and has performed a number of times at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, state music educator association conferences, and schools across the country. He has been awarded and served long-term artist residencies on the island of Key West, Florida, Montello, Nevada, and Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Wahlund is a member of the Yamaha Performing Artist roster, the Zildjian Artist Program, and endorses Innovative Percussion Sticks and Mallets.