Bio
McKenzie Squires (they/she) is a percussionist with a passion for world music, research, composition and most importantly performing with fellow musicians. She recently graduated with her Masters Degree in Percussion Studies from New York University where she was an adjunct for non-percussion major lessons. 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 assistant to Emily Motherwell at Colbert Artists Management and OtherArts. In their free time they 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, Harlem playing djembe and gyil, 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!
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McKenzie Squires (they/she) is a New York City 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 (So Percussion), Kendall K Williams (composer, panist) and James Saporito (NYC Ballet).
In her free time she obsessively practices solo glockenspiel pieces, researches the history of the music that she is playing from minimalism to Pan to Gyil, and produces 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 as well as a member of the NYU Quartet each year. For the last 2+ years she was an intern, studio manager, and arts administrator for Sō Percussion.
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 talents of women within percussion on her instagram page regularly as well as annually during Women's History Month. She is currently commissioning a piece by Brian Ellis for Double Seconds about an experience where she was told she would be better off as a secretary rather than a percussionist a piece for Golckenspiel and Desk Bells by Calvin Hitchcock, a piece for Glock and Cajon from Ben Hausmen, and pieces by other new composers.
McKenzie can be seen in Brooklyn in the Pan yard, Harlem playing djembe and gyil, 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!
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McKenzie Squires (they/she) is a New York City 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 (So Percussion), Kendall K Williams (composer, panist) and James Saporito (NYC Ballet).
In her free time she obsessively practices solo glockenspiel pieces, researches the history of the music that she is playing from minimalism to Pan to Gyil, and produces 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 as well as a member of the NYU Quartet each year. For the last 2+ years she was an intern, studio manager, and arts administrator for Sō Percussion.
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 talents of women within percussion on her instagram page regularly as well as annually during Women's History Month. She is currently commissioning a piece by Brian Ellis for Double Seconds about an experience where she was told she would be better off as a secretary rather than a percussionist a piece for Golckenspiel and Desk Bells by Calvin Hitchcock, a piece for Glock and Cajon from Ben Hausmen, and pieces by other new composers.
Notable performances include:
Utopia Unlimited's HMS Pinafore, Panorama 2023 with Pan in Motion, folx percussion + Matchstick Percussion at the Rhisome in DC, Nief Norf Summer Festival and Sō Percussion's Summer Institure 2023, Michael Gordon's Field of Visions, and Three Sisters at 2Rivers Theater in NJ (Sub).
While at Western Carolina University she travelled with The Pride of the Mountains to St. Louis Missouri, Charleston South Carolina, and New York City to perform in the Macy's Day Parade. With WCU's Percussion Ensemble traveled to Indianapolis to perform at the Percussive Arts Society's International Convention. Here she performed Andrew Worden's Escape!
Utopia Unlimited's HMS Pinafore, Panorama 2023 with Pan in Motion, folx percussion + Matchstick Percussion at the Rhisome in DC, Nief Norf Summer Festival and Sō Percussion's Summer Institure 2023, Michael Gordon's Field of Visions, and Three Sisters at 2Rivers Theater in NJ (Sub).
While at Western Carolina University she travelled with The Pride of the Mountains to St. Louis Missouri, Charleston South Carolina, and New York City to perform in the Macy's Day Parade. With WCU's Percussion Ensemble traveled to Indianapolis to perform at the Percussive Arts Society's International Convention. Here she performed Andrew Worden's Escape!
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 many more.
Notable Projects:
Curious Surroundings Clif Walker's (premiere), Escape by Worden, meditation for metal pipes by Emma O'Halloran or 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
Notable Projects:
Curious Surroundings Clif Walker's (premiere), Escape by Worden, meditation for metal pipes by Emma O'Halloran or 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