#413 Kristen Klehr- Percussionist, Vocalist, Educator and More!
Photo of Kristen by: Francesco Desmaele.
This week’s guest is Kristen Klehr (she/her). Kristen is a drummer/percussionist and singer new to the Bay Area. Prior to moving to San Francisco, she toured internationally with Scrap Arts Music from 2017-2020 and was based in Los Angeles when not on the road. She’s performed on stages as big as Coachella and as small as Hotel Café, with the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra and Juneau Symphony Brass, from orchestral to pit musicals to singer+songwriter and pop - in short, she loves it all. Kristen received her first GRAMMY® Nomination on marimba with The String Theory in 2020, and was honored to be a featured artist at the Mallet + Voice Fest 2023.
Kristen is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music earning a bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance, holds a master’s degree in Arts Administration from Florida State University, and a continuing education certificate in The Business of Art from the Los Angeles Center for Cultural Innovation. She has studied percussion primarily with Joel Smales, Josh Ryan, and Valerie Naranjo as well as Randy Messing and Joanne Uniatowski in voice. A serial entrepreneur within the music industry, she owns Produced by BEAR, is the founder of The Den Collective and Pawprint, and is currently the Professional Development and Engagement Center Director at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Kristen is proudly endorsed by Marimba One, Dream Cymbals and Gongs, Vater Drumsticks, Black Swamp Percussion, and Earasers. She is represented for screen, commercial, and print by Instrumental Casting.
If you would like to give to the Percussive Arts Society for Giving Tuesday, here is THE LINK to do so.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Satnam Ramgotra! Canadian born and raised, Satnam Ramgotra is a drummer/percussionist blending traditional drum set with Indian, African, and World Percussion elements into modern musical environments. His formal training on both drum set and Indian Classical Tabla started at the age of ten.
Satnam brings 30+ years experience to the Hollywood landscape as a studio musician for TV & film, a composer & a live-performance drummer & percussionist for world-renowned artists. Blending his training in Indian classical music with modern percussive styles allows him to create within a wide array of genres from punk & funk to classical & jazz. Ramgotra says, “I have an instinctual ability to capture the colour, style & emotion of what is intended to be created musically”.
Amongst the ‘A-list’ composers he collaborates alongside he is a house-musician at Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions & worked on such projects as The Lion King 2019, The Dark Knight & Black Hawk Down as well as a co-composer on Dunkirk. His versatility in the industry allows him to perform, record or tour with artists like Beck, Sting, Pharrell Williams, Macy Gray, Shakira & he has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno & the 84th Academy Awards. You may have also heard his work on the A&E, Discovery, Epix, Food Network, History Channel, MLB, NFL, NHL Showtime networks as a composer for the boutique music library house Extreme Music.
Happy Birthday to Ross Pederson! Ross is an explosive, sensitive, dynamic, and compelling voice on the drum set and in the studio, Ross has in the last decade emerged as an in-demand drummer and producer in Brooklyn, NY. Ross has shared the stage with renowned, diverse and prominent musicians/artists as Fred Hersch, Snarky Puppy (recorded on their first album, The Only Constant), The Manhattan Transfer, Take 6, Eddie Gomez, Kenny Werner, Patti Austin, Shayna Steele, David Cook, Chris Potter, Melissa McMillan, Grace Kelly, Emmy Rossum, Jessie James, David Binney, Lew Soloff, Nir Felder, Will Lee, Kevin Hayes, Jean-Michel Pilc, Rufus Reid, Mark Egan, Francois Moutin, Ben Wendel, John Ellis, Tim Lefevbre, Gary Versace, Oz Noy, Marc Johnson, Patricia Barber, Henry Hey, Lynne Arriale, Johannes Weidenmueller, Jon Hendricks, Madeline Eastman, Joe Martin, Taylor Eigsti, John Abercrombie, Billy Drewes, Rich Perry, Wycliffe Gordon, Gilad Hekselman, Pete McCann, Kate McGarry, Ralph LaLama, among many others. As a sideman, Ross has recorded on dozens of albums ranging from Jazz trio to Indie Rock. He is a current member of the bands of Shayna Steele, Melissa McMillan and Grace Kelly, The Manhattan Transfer, as well as a frequent member of the Kenny Werner and Fred Hersch Trios. In addition to his jazz roots Ross stays in touch with his rock, pop, and singer-songwriter roots, playing with and producing jazz, soul/R&B, folk, rock, and indie-electronic artists in Brooklyn at his home studio.
Happy Birthday to Ji Su Jung! Born in South Korea, she is a rarity in the world of percussion having begun her studies at the age of four. Her exceptional talent was recognized early on and led to recitals and concerto performances at such a young age that she needed a small platform to stand upon just to reach the keyboard of the instrument. That platform was soon left behind as her stature and musical voice matured and numerous solo performances ensued. In 2011, she came to the United States where she completed her undergraduate studies at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, thanks to a generous grant from The Brookby Foundation in Wisconsin, and later received her Masters and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of famed percussionist Robert van Sice.
Her exceptional potential quickly blossomed into professional success leading to concerto performances including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop, Colorado Springs Philharmonic with JoAnn Falletta, Houston Symphony with Daniel Hege, the Aspen Festival Orchestra with Michael Stern, Grand Rapids Symphony with Marchelo Lehninger, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra with Peter Oundjian, Boise Philharmonic with Eric Garcia, the Windsor Symphony in Canada with Robert Franz and the Romanian Symphony Orchestra. Miss Jung made her commercial recording debut this season at the invitation of Pulitzer prize winning composer, Kevin Puts performing his spectacular marimba concerto with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony for the Naxos label. Her recitals across America have also won over new audiences for the marimba and her appearance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C resulted in an unexpected invitation to join the faculty at The Peabody Institute. Ji Su has garnered numerous prizes in national and international competitions. She was the first percussionist in twenty six years to win the First Prize and the Audience Choice Award at the 2018 Ima Hogg Competition of the Houston Symphony and was a laureate in the International Marimba Competition in Linz, Austria in 2015. NPR radio host Fred Childs welcomed her as an artist in residence for his nationally syndicated program, Performance Today. During her week with him in Minneapolis, she performed many of the seminal pieces in the marimba repertoire introducing the instrument to listeners in every corner of the country. While in Minnesota, Jung’s concerts for children were highly successful reflecting her love for bringing classical music to young audiences. Ji Su has presented master classes at numerous conservatories and universities around the world including the Curtis Institute of Music, New York University’s Stienhardt School, The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and the Beijing Central Conservatory in China and she serves on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music as well as the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.
As the repertoire for marimba in mixed ensemble is growing rapidly, Miss Jung has become an active chamber musician alongside her solo concerts. Her first commercial chamber CD of Garth Neustadter’s Seaborne with The Percussion Collective is due for release in 2023. This all-star collection of young percussionists performs recitals and concertos in major concert venues around the world and she has been a core member since its inception. She has also appeared at the Yellow Barn and Norfolk Chamber Music Festivals where she performed with many of today’s greatest chamber musicians including legendary pianist Gilbert Kalish and Roger Tapping, formerly of the Takács String Quartet. Starting in the 2022-2023 season, Ji Su will join forces with luminary flutist Marina Piccinini to form a duo performing in both North America and Europe.
Gig Alerts
The Penn State Marimba Festival & Competition is happening on January 18 & 19, 2025. You can REGISTER HERE for the Festival and/or the Marimba Solo Competition.
The 2025 NAMM Show is happening in January from the 21st-25th. You can REGISTER HERE.
Educational Spotlight
The Thomas Lang Drum Camp is happening from January 17-19 2025! You can REGISTER HERE.
Gear Talk
You can check out the new DW Collector's Series Snare with the Zikit System—now in Maple or Acrylic! Switch between 14", 12", and 10" tones with a flip of a lever.
Iconic Recording
Kristen picked out “Show Me (feat. Hundred Waters)” by Big Wild as the iconic recording for the week. It is from the album, 'Superdream'.
Honorable mention goes to Jason Mraz with his song, “You Might Like It” featuring friend of the show, Mona Tavakoli on percussion.
Music News
HBO’s “Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary” sets sail on the high seas of easy listening, covering a catalog of pop records produced in the ‘70s and ‘80s. -Article
Shout-out to (friend of the show) Lenny Castro, Ralph MacDonald, and Paulinho Da Costa.
If you would like to check out the NYC Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting Ceremony on Wednesday December 4th, you can do that by CLICKING HERE.
If you would like to check out the National Tree Lighting Ceremony on Thursday December 5th, you can do that by CLICKING HERE.
Adam Blackstone will be the musical director for the tree lighting in D.C.
Mariah Carey is doing her winter tour of Christmas favorites and holiday hits. You can GET A TICKET HERE.
Kristen Klehr Interview
The song leading into the interview is “Socal Soca” by Fernando Diez, from the album ‘Rhythmetics’ where Kristen plays marimba and other instruments.
Damon and Kristen start by recapping the week of PASIC they were both at. If you are not familiar with PASIC or the Percussive Arts Society, you can get hip by clicking on the aforementioned links.
Kristen is a percussionist AND a vocalist.
Kristen credits her parents for music, especially her dad who played several instruments.
Kristen talks about the Opera. Damon mentions this scene from the movie Trading Places.
Kristen grew up in Binghamton, NY and attended the Rod Serling School of Fine Arts.
She was also part of the Youth Orchestra.
Kristen went to the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Performing Arts.
Shout-out to Josh Ryan.
Kristen played Yellow After the Rain and Flight of the Bumble Bee and other orchestral excerpts for her audition.
She enjoys hand crash cymbal excerpts.
Kristen did a PAS internship and worked with the Cleveland Orchestra then got her masters at Florida State University for Arts Administration.
If you want to intern for PAS, please reach out to Justin Ramirez to see if there is an opening available.
Kristen talks about starting her “Produced by The Bear” events (shout-out to Pawprint) as well as “The Den Collective”.
Kristen talks about some of the things she teaches her students at the San Fransisco Conservatory of Music.
Kristen talks about “Other Duties as Assigned” that you can find in your CBA (aka Collective Bargaining Agreements - a fancy word for contract)
Kristen designed a show called Prism.
She was a member of Scrap Arts Music.
While Kristen was in L.A., she taught HERE.
During the pandemic, she spent some time in Hawaii and played with one of the symphonies there. She also played in Alaska with one of the groups there.
Shout-out to Amy Sanchez.
Kristen talks about the Penn State Marimba Festival mentioned in the Gig Alerts section.
Damon talks about getting a participation certificate for albums you have played on that have won or been nominated for Grammys. The Participation Certificate portal will be open from March 1, 2025 - June 30, 2025.
Shout-out to Elmo Lovano drummer and founder of JammCard.
Kristen picks the iconic recording for the week. Shout-out to another song she listens to each morning, “La Mer” by Claude Debussy.
“Nice for What” is one of the songs on one of Kristen’s Workout Playlist.
You can dig into “Trini Dem Girls” and the percussion parts by checking out the instrumental.
Friend of the show, Dani Markham and Kristen are going to start a podcast.
Shout-out to Keio Stroud and Jason McGerr.
Shout-out to Joel Smales, Josh Ryan, (friend of the show) Valerie Naranjo, Dr. Joanne Uniatowski, Randy Messing, Rhoslyn Jones, and John Wittmann.
Kristen uses Dream Cymbals, Marimba One Instruments, Vater Sticks and Mallets, Earasers Earplugs, and Black Swamp Percussion.
You can follow Kristen on her Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
The song leading out of the interview is, "Agency" by Matt Levine from the ‘MASTERMINDS II’ Music Kit Box album.
