JOSEPH PECK
Joseph Peck is a professional steel drum musician with a degree in music education and a focus on world music. He has a unique set of skills, and a drive to inspire young, creative minds.
Joseph received his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Wichita State University. He performed with Potential Symphony, an award-winning steel band in Trinidad, for the Panorama National Steel Band Competition. He was a founding member of Babylon Saints – a venerable LA-based pop/rock/reggae band, and has performed and recorded throughout the US in genres such ash reggae, acoustic rock, jazz, and fusion.
His career has taken him around the world, working with Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, Cyndi Lauper, and Ryan Gosling, among others. His work has aired on VH1, CBS, and NBC, including Parks and Recreation. He was also a contributor in Teaching in the Diverse Classroom: Learner-Centered Activities that Work, a book for educators by Tanya Huber-Bowen.
Joseph’s current project – The Joseph Peck Group – is a Caribbean Jazz ensemble that explores traditional rhythms commingled with contemporary interpretations. His latest album as a solo artist is a relaxing and transcendental journey called Free-Flow Steel Pan Meditation.
While directing the Steel Pan Orchestra at Wichita State University, he founded the Adopt-a-Drum Program. Today, with a State of California Music Education K-12 Credential, he is a program facilitator at the Drumming for Your Life Institute, and a teaching artist at The Music Center and the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center K-12 Arts Education Outreach Program.
Twenty years of experience as a steelpan percussionist and music educator have informed his development of the Joseph Peck World Music Program – an innovative, performance-based class which exposes students to the important cultural and historical contributions of music. Students learn the
building blocks of music (melody, harmony, and rhythm) in a supportive,
creative, and interactive environment using percussion instruments such as steel drums (pans), hand drums, shakers, cowbells, and tamboo-bamboo. Students go on to read, write, practice, play, and perform music from around the world, both on an individual level, as well as with an ensemble.
His Caribbean Drum Circle Program is a music enrichment program that he conducts at Libraries and in schools, teaching students to build community and relate with one another in a drum circle format.
In both of Joseph’s programs, students discover the connection between music and math, science, the language arts, and the natural world. Each program culminates in a concert performance.
