Alex Casimiro
Duke University - United States
Overview
Dr. Alexander Casimiro is the Assistant Director of Athletic Bands at Duke University. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Music Performance from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master’s degree in Music Performance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has performed with the Austin Symphony, the Omaha Symphony, and the Round Rock Symphony. He also served as the percussion teacher at Creighton University.
At UMass, Alex performed in the Minuteman Marching Band under the direction of George Parks, Thom Hannum, and Colin McNutt. He served as the section leader of the UMass drumline from the spring of his freshman year through senior year. He has also been a member of numerous competitive marching ensembles including the Cadets, the Madison Scouts, the Spartans, the Targets, the Silver Knights, and the Boston University Winter Percussion Ensemble.
He has taught a variety of marching ensembles including the Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps, Omaha Central High School, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the University of Texas at Austin, and Duke University. He is the writer and instructor for the Trash Tones percussion group at Six Flags New England, while also having been an original member of the group. He has taught numerous clinics and performed throughout the United States and in Portugal. Alex has had the honor of performing at special events such as the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, Barack Obama's Inaugural Parade, George W. Bush's Inaugural Parade, the New England Patriots Super Bowl Ring Ceremony, Craig Mello's Nobel Prize Banquet, a concert with the band KANSAS and the Heartland Philharmonic Orchestra, the Menuhin Violin Competition, and The Rite of Spring with the Joffrey Ballet. In April of 2015, Alex performed the world premier of the Drum Set Suite by composer Stuart Saunders Smith, consisting of the pieces Blue Too , Two Lights , and Brush . In Smith’s introduction to the event, he described the collection as “by far the most difficult drum set solos that I know of that have been written.”
Alex has studied with Dr. Thomas Burritt, Dr. Tomm Roland, Ayano Kataoka, Thomas P. Hannum, Tony Edwards, Ken Yoshida, Dana Murray, and Wayne Salzmann II. In drum corps, Alex marched under the direction of Colin Mcnutt, Tom Aungst, Lee Beddis, Chris Dufault, and others. He is a member of the Marching Percussion Committee of the Percussive Arts Society. Alex endorses Pearl Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets, and Remo Drumheads.