Bio
McKenzie Squires (they/she) is a Brooklyn-based percussionist with a passion for world music, research, composition and most importantly performing with fellow musicians. They are an experienced educator who teaches with the BK Steppers, Steps, and private lessons online. She is a proud member of Pan in Motion steel orchestra, Secretary for the Network for Diversity in Concert Percussion and Publicity Associate to Emily Motherwell at Colbert Artists Management and OtherArts. In her free time she obsessively practices solo glockenspiel pieces, researches minimalist music, and produces content for Instagram. Occasionally she can be found composing electronic music from sound bites and pre-recorded materials. They are a founding member of folx Percussion- a percussion collective dedicated to creating a safe space for femme and non-binary percussionists to be creative and explore new ideas.
McKenzie can be seen in Brooklyn in the Pan yard, in Manhattan with Utopia Opera Company, playing in a theater’s pit, or traveling to nearby states to perform at theaters, coffee shops, and art galleries!
She received her Masters in Percussion Studies from New York University and her Bachelors in Music, Percussion Performance from Western Carolina University.
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McKenzie Squires (they/she) is a Brooklyn-based Percussionist with a passion for world music, research, composition and most importantly performing with fellow musicians. They graduated with their Masters in Percussion Studies from NYU in May 2023. At NYU she performed in the Wind Symphony, Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, Percussion Chamber Music Ensemble, Steel Band, and African Gyil and Percussion Ensemble. She primarily studied under Valerie Naranjo (PAS Hall of Fame 2021), Javier Diaz (freelance percussionist), Josh Quillen (Sō Percussion), Kendall K Williams (composer, panist) and James Saporito (NYPhil Pops).
In her free time she can be heard playing solo glockenspiel pieces, researching the history of the music that she is playing from minimalism to Pan, and producing content for Instagram. Occasionally she can be found composing electronic music from sound bites and pre-recorded materials. She is a founding member of folx Percussion; folx is a collective of femme and non-binary percussionists with a passion for championing a diverse group of composers.
Squires can also be found talking about and commissioning new works about representation within the percussion community. She has written articles for the International Alliance for Women in Music Journal about her struggle to prove herself as a woman in a male dominated industry. She has showcased women who inspire her within percussion on her instagram page regularly as well as annually during Women's History Month. She has just commissioned a trio by Ben Hausman, a percussion duo by Sachelle Thomas, and more wonderful pieces to come! She is currently on a mission to participate in as many Panoramas as she can this year (Trinidad, London, New York, Miami, etc).
McKenzie can be seen in Brooklyn in the Pan yard, in Manhattan with Utopia Opera Company, playing in a theater’s pit, or traveling to nearby states to perform at theaters, coffee shops, and art galleries!
She received her Masters in Percussion Studies from New York University and her Bachelors in Music, Percussion Performance from Western Carolina University.
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McKenzie Squires (they/she) is a Brooklyn-based Percussionist with a passion for world music, research, composition and most importantly performing with fellow musicians. They graduated with their Masters in Percussion Studies from NYU in May 2023. At NYU she performed in the Wind Symphony, Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, Percussion Chamber Music Ensemble, Steel Band, and African Gyil and Percussion Ensemble. She primarily studied under Valerie Naranjo (PAS Hall of Fame 2021), Javier Diaz (freelance percussionist), Josh Quillen (Sō Percussion), Kendall K Williams (composer, panist) and James Saporito (NYPhil Pops).
In her free time she can be heard playing solo glockenspiel pieces, researching the history of the music that she is playing from minimalism to Pan, and producing content for Instagram. Occasionally she can be found composing electronic music from sound bites and pre-recorded materials. She is a founding member of folx Percussion; folx is a collective of femme and non-binary percussionists with a passion for championing a diverse group of composers.
Squires can also be found talking about and commissioning new works about representation within the percussion community. She has written articles for the International Alliance for Women in Music Journal about her struggle to prove herself as a woman in a male dominated industry. She has showcased women who inspire her within percussion on her instagram page regularly as well as annually during Women's History Month. She has just commissioned a trio by Ben Hausman, a percussion duo by Sachelle Thomas, and more wonderful pieces to come! She is currently on a mission to participate in as many Panoramas as she can this year (Trinidad, London, New York, Miami, etc).
Notable performances include:
Utopia Opera's Jesus Christ Superstar and HMS Pinafore, Panorama with Pan in Motion (NYC) and Invaders (Trinidad), folx percussion + Matchstick Percussion at the Rhisome in DC, Nief Norf Summer Festival, Michael Gordon's Field of Visions (premiere), Douglas J. Cuomo's The Jump Up! (workshop and premiere), and many more!
While at Western Carolina University she travelled with The 'Pride of the Mountains' Marching Band to New York City to perform in the Macy's Day Parade. With WCU's Percussion Ensemble, she traveled to Indianapolis to perform at the Percussive Arts Society's International Convention. Here she performed Andrew Worden's Escape! for Triangle sextet.
Utopia Opera's Jesus Christ Superstar and HMS Pinafore, Panorama with Pan in Motion (NYC) and Invaders (Trinidad), folx percussion + Matchstick Percussion at the Rhisome in DC, Nief Norf Summer Festival, Michael Gordon's Field of Visions (premiere), Douglas J. Cuomo's The Jump Up! (workshop and premiere), and many more!
While at Western Carolina University she travelled with The 'Pride of the Mountains' Marching Band to New York City to perform in the Macy's Day Parade. With WCU's Percussion Ensemble, she traveled to Indianapolis to perform at the Percussive Arts Society's International Convention. Here she performed Andrew Worden's Escape! for Triangle sextet.
Artists she has worked with: Matchstick Percussion, Dr. Kendall K Williams, Sō Percussion, Sandbox Percussion, Dr. Adam Groh, Jason Treuting, Dr. Andrew Lynge, Colleen Bernstein, Dr. Diana Loomer, Ivan Trevino, Michael Burritt, She-e Wu, Valerie Naranjo, Dr. Javier Diaz, Shelby Blezing-McCay, Josh Samuels, and James Saparito.
Notable Projects:
Curious Surroundings Clif Walker's (premiere), Escape by Worden, meditation for metal pipes by Emma O'Halloran and Head to Toe (for Steel) by Molly Joyce
Everybody Hits project
Representation Projects
B.M. in Percussion - Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC - Adam Groh, Diana Loomer
M.M. Percussion Performance - NYU'23, NYC - James Saparito, Kendall K Williams, Javier Diaz
Notable Projects:
Curious Surroundings Clif Walker's (premiere), Escape by Worden, meditation for metal pipes by Emma O'Halloran and Head to Toe (for Steel) by Molly Joyce
Everybody Hits project
Representation Projects
B.M. in Percussion - Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC - Adam Groh, Diana Loomer
M.M. Percussion Performance - NYU'23, NYC - James Saparito, Kendall K Williams, Javier Diaz