Office: 125B Powell Hall
P.O. Box 6968
Radford, VA 24142

Phone (540)831-5027
Fax (540)831-6133

awojtera@radford.edu

Percussionist, Al Wojtera is in his nineteenth year at Radford University as an Associate Professor of Music where he serves as the Director of Percussion Studies, directs the RU Percussion Ensemble, teaches studio percussion, percussion methods, jazz history, and hosts the Annual RU Percussion Symposium.

Mr. Wojtera is an active percussionist in solo recitals, small chamber ensembles, the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Opera Roanoke, Wintergreen Festival Orchestra, regional jazz ensembles, touring show productions, and has served as conductor for RU productions of the Nutcracker Ballet. He is a frequent adjudicator and clinician throughout the Tri-State area, and is the Southwest Regional Representative for the Virginia Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society. He resides in Montgomery County with his wife Carolyn and their two children Christopher and Casey.
 

Under his direction, the Radford University Percussion Ensemble has toured public schools and universities throughout Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina, performed for the VMEA State Conference, has been featured in both VA and NC Percussive Arts Society’s Days of Percussion, and has performed at the Kennedy Center as part of the National Symphony Orchestra’s “Drums Along The Potomac” Festival.

Each year the Ensemble hosts an Annual Percussion Symposium with renowned artists and clinicians that have included NEXUS, Ed Shaughnessey, Gordon Stout, Leigh Howard Stevens, Roy Haynes, Andy Harnsberger, Jon Metzger, Jerry Tachoir, Mark Ford, Khalid Saleem, Mohamed DaCosta, Guy Gauthreaux, David Steinquest, and Michael Williams. Radford University Percussion Ensemble performances encompass a broad spectrum of musical styles from standard works in the percussion/marimba repertoire, transcriptions, arrangements, traditional African drumming, and current releases of contemporary percussion literature.

The Ensemble is also an active participant in the “Music in Our Schools” and the “Artists in Residence” programs sponsored by the New River Valley Friends of the Roanoke Symphony, giving performances to thousands of public school audiences throughout the region each year since 1995. Reviews of our recently released CD By Departing Light on the Highlander record label indicate "an excellent CD that is eclectic in content and styles, each piece is well played, and the contrasts in styles make this an interesting hour of listening.” (Percussive Notes, Dec. 2001) Radford University’s close proximity to the natural scenic beauty of the region’s Blue Ridge Mountains affords us striking views of spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Those vivid images were the visual catalyst for the cover art and title of this CD, the name taken from RU faculty member Bruce Mahin’s composition, “By Departing Light.”