#169 Keith Aleo- Director of Percussion at Interlochen Center for the Arts & More!
Keith A. Aleo has a multifaceted career as an orchestral player, educator, and administrator. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Miami, Aleo has served on the percussion faculty of the Boston Conservatory, the University of Connecticut, and the University of Miami. He is also Director of Education and Orchestral Activities for the Zildjian Company.
Aleo has given master classes and workshops at numerous universities conventions, including the Percussive Arts Society, State and International Conventions; PAS Journees de la Percussion in Paris, France; the PAS Italian Percussion Festival in Fermo, Italy; and multiple music educator conferences. Aleo’s playing credits include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of the percussion section of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra from 1989-2003.
Instructor of Percussion, Interlochen Arts Academy; Director and Instructor of Orchestral Percussion, Interlochen Percussion Institute; Adult Band Camp Percussion Faculty, Interlochen College of Creative Arts. Percussion faculty, Boston Conservatory; Director of Education and Orchestral Activities at the Avedis Zildjian Co.
M.M. Percussion Performance, University of Miami; B.M. Percussion Performance, Eastman School of Music.
Educational Spotlight
Here’s the article that Damon recommends you read to enhance your online teaching skills.
The book recommended to Damon by friend of the show Gerald Myles is The Dynamic Studio: How to keep students, dazzle parents, and build the music studio everyone wants to get into by Philip Johnston.
Some forums and websites to help shape your online teaching studio are Drumeo, Mikeslessons, and Dave Elitch.
Iconic Recording
For the iconic recording our guest Keith Aleo recommended Music For 18 Musicians a composition by Steve Reich. The performance above includes Eighth Blackbird, Thirdcoast Percussion, Meehan/Perkins Duo, and many more!
Social Soundbyte
We’d like to invite you to participate in the #LiveFromHome Challenge! These are totally bizarre times, but we think this could be a great opportunity to get at the heart of what we try to do each week at Live from Here – connect with each other across the whole country through incredible performances. We are just starting a social distancing-social media project with musicians and artists (writers/comics) that encourages people to stay at home and would love to get percussionists involved!
Nuts and bolts:
Just use your phone (non-selfie camera)
Post to your own socials
Use the hashtag #LivefromHome and tag @livefromhereapm
Tag 3 artists who you want to participate next in the challenge
Encourage your fans to share their own music and art while they are #LivefromHome.
Check out Rachael Price from Lake Street Dive who helped us get started. Since then there have been many to join in like Emily King, Sara Bareilles, Louis Cato, Kacey Musgraves and more!
Here is the Video of Michael McDonald mentioned.
The Hush Money just released their new album Maiden America
Childish Gambino Released a new album 3. 15.20. Read more about it here!
Music News
COVID-19 Freelance Artist Resources - an aggregated list of FREE resources, opportunities, and financial relief options available to artists of all disciplines. Click Here.
The Recording Academy® and its affiliated charitable foundation MusiCares® have established the COVID-19 Relief Fund to help our peers in the music community affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. Click Here.
9 THINGS TO DO NOW THAT YOUR GIGS ARE CANCELLED BECAUSE OF CORONAVIRUS - Ari Herstand - Article
MUSICIANS WILL RECEIVE ASSISTANCE UNDER THE STIMULUS PACKAGE - Ari Herstand - Article
Resources for musicians during the COVID-19 pandemic - Chris Robley - Article
Urge Congress to Protect Music Makers in Coronavirus Relief Funding. Click Here. Here is the stock letter provided by ASCAP that you can use as well. Click here.
Leading into the interview is a tambourine etude performed by Keith Aleo at Black Swamp Percussion.
Keith Aleo Interview
The interview starts with Keith talking about Interlochen Center for the Arts.
Interlochen was founded in 1928 and is located in beautiful northwest lower Michigan. Each year, thousands of artists and arts patrons come to Interlochen to experience world-class educational and cultural opportunities. Students study music, theatre, visual arts, film, creative writing and dance, guided by an outstanding faculty and guest artists, and inspired by the scenic beauty of our campus.
Keith shares some insights on the audition process to get in and also mentions how important rudiments are as a foundation. Damon mentions David Girabaldi and Steve Gadd when they talk about Paradiddles and Ratamacues.
Keith used to play at the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra before it folded. He shares his story of how that tragedy led him to work for the marketing department at Zildjian. Keith always had a passion for teaching. He eventually got a job at Boston Conservatory and Interlochen.
Keith shares how he believes that the classical percussion world is not as competitive as people may think. He gives a super deep tip on how to approach an audition for any percussinosts/musician.
““Remember that you are a musician, you are not a technician. Your goal on any audition is to connect and share your music with the people listening. It’s about sharing what you love with them.” - Keith Aleo”
Keith shares how he started his path to becoming a musician and mentions attending Interlochen his senior. The gang shares their experience topics like practicing, active listening vs passive listening and more.
“Don’t worry about what you’re practicing, fall in love with what you’re doing first and then you’ll want to practice.” - Marcos Torres
Keith shares some insight on endorsement, saying that a marketing deal with a player should first start with the love and passion for the company’s product.
Keith shares the pros and cons of his career choices and sums it up by saying that being a musician, educator, etc. is part of his life and wouldn’t give it up for anything.
Damon mentions how friend of the show Ian Hale introduced him to Keith and follows up with a question on how Keith balances teaching at a school and being asked to do masterclasses at Spirit.
Keith is currently listening to Cantata Para América Mágica by Alberto Ginastera, Elvin Jones, Song of the Underground by railroad John Coltrane, Amy Grant, Titanic!
Keith talks about how the next step for many educators is how to handle online teaching. He mentions learning the history behind the instruments, and shares some fun facts on how a timpani was played on horseback, drum sets were called traps because they thought of as a contraption, and more! The book mentioned by Keith is Percussion Instruments and Their History by James Blades
First thing that pops into Keith’s head for an iconic recording is A Love Supreme by John Coltrane and Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich. He also mentions John Cage’s 4’33.
Keith Aleo is sponsored by Vic Firth, Zildjian, Remo (Diplomat White Coated Drumhead), Pearl (Concert Snare Drums).
You can find more on Keith Aleo on his Website, Facebook and Instagram (@keithaleo). If you would like to email him, you can send an email to Keith.Aleo@interlochen.org.
Leading out of the interview is Keith playing Lou Harrison's "Solo to Anthony Cirone" on an instrument designed by Garry Kvistad, which Garry calls "Lou's Tubes.
