Nick Petrella is the Director
of Education for Sabian Ltd. He maintains a full schedule
as a performer and has commissioned and premiered over a
dozen new compositions. Nick has many solo, chamber and
large ensemble performances to his credit. He received a
Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Iowa, a Master
of Music from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor
of Science in Music Education from Penn State University.
Nick was on the faculty of Oakland University from 2002
to 2006. He was the Director of Percussion Studies at Texas
Christian University from 1996 to 2001. In 1998, the TCU
Percussion Ensemble performed as the first percussion ensemble
invited to the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. During the
1992-93 academic year, Nick was invited to develop the percussion
pedagogy course at the Royal Northern College of Music,
England. It was the first of its kind in the United Kingdom.
He was the percussion coach for two consecutive years with
the World Youth Orchestra, in Switzerland and Taiwan, and
has been an adjudicator for many marching, solo and percussion
ensemble competitions throughout the US. Committed to percussion
education, Nick has published numerous articles in US and
European music journals. He is the author of two Carl Fischer
publications: The Ultimate Guide to Cymbals
w/DVD and The Multiple-Percussion Book w/CD,
which has been translated into French, German, Italian and
Spanish. He holds nine designs for sticks, mallets and percussion
accessories currently on the market, and has been a consultant
to many companies in the music industry. Nick is a Yamaha
performing artist and has appeared as a clinician, teacher
and performer throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
Diane Helfers Petrella is
currently Assistant Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy
at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of
Music. From 2001-2006 she held a similar position at Oakland
University in Rochester, MI. She has also served on the
faculty of Texas Wesleyan University and taught applied
piano and class piano at the University of North Texas and
the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Diane received the
Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the University
of North Texas, an Artist Diploma from Texas Christian University,
a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University
of Wisconsin-Madison and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance
and Music Education, magna cum laude, from Eastern Illinois
University. Diane has taught piano to pre-college students
and adults in the Texas Christian University Preparatory
Program, the Madison School of Music, Wayland Academy and
the Eastern Illinois University Preparatory Program. She
was on the piano faculty of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp for
ten years, serving as chairperson of Blue Lake's piano department
from 2000-2002. She has appeared as a soloist with several
regional orchestras and is active as a soloist, collaborative
pianist, speaker and adjudicator throughout the United States.
In 2002, she and Nick Petrella formed the Petrella Ensemble,
which is dedicated to commissioning and performing new works
for piano and percussion.
