Doug Perkins has been described as “terrific, wide-awake and strikingly entertaining” by the Boston Globe and he has been declared a “percussion virtuoso” by the New York Times. He has appeared at venues of all types including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Millennium Park, the Alaskan Tundra, Central Park Lake, and countless others around the world.

Doug has commissioned and premiered over 100 pieces works and with such composers as David Lang, Steve Reich, Paul Lansky, John Luther Adams, Roshanne Etezady, Nathan Davis, Christian Wolff, Glenn Kotche, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Tristan Perich. He founded the percussion quartet So Percussion and the Meehan/ Perkins Duo, and performs regularly with groups like Signal, eighth blackbird, the Chicago Symphony’s MusicNOW, and others.

Doug’s critically acclaimed recordings as a soloist, conductor, producer, and member of the Meehan/ Perkins Duo and So Percussion can be heard on the Bridge, Cantaloupe, Harmonia Mundi, New Focus, and New World labels. He produced John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit and it was named one of 2013’s top records by NPR, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the New Yorker, New Music Box, and Time Out New York. His latest record of Tristan Perich’s Parallels was named one of Rolling Stone’s 20 Best Avant Records of 2015.

Lately, Doug has been organizing large-scale events that encourage a sense of community and new ways of experiencing live music. His production of Iannis Xenakis’ Persephassa in and around Central Park Lake and John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit in New York City were named Top Ten Performances in 2010 and 2011 by the New Yorker, New York Magazine, and Time Out NY. Alex Ross called Inuksuit at the Park Avenue Armory, “one of the most rapturous listening experiences of my life”. He also directed the premiere of John Luther Adams’ Sila, at Lincoln Centerin 2015. Most recently, Doug conducted the premiered Tristan Perich’s Drift Multiply for 50 violins and electronics at the Red Bull Festival in NYC and directed a production with new choreography by Lucinda Childs in Holland in the fall of 2019.

Doug is an Associate Professor of Music and the Director of Percussion at the University of Michigan. He is additionally an Associate Professor of Music at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Previously, he was the Founder and Director and founder of the Chosen Vale International Percussion Seminar, served with eighth blackbird as an Artist-in-Residence at the University of Chicago, and was previously on the faculty of Dartmouth College.

Doug received his Bachelor’s degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Masters and Artist Diploma degrees from Yale University, and his Doctorate from Stony Brook University. His principal percussion teachers were Jack DiIanni, Jim Culley, Robert Van Sice, and John Beck.

He performs with Pearl/Adams Musical Instruments, Vic Firth Drumsticks and Mallets, Black Swamp Percussion Accessories, Remo Drumheads, and ZildjianCymbals.