Eric Guinivan


Eric Guinivan is a percussionist, composer, founding member of the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, and was principal timpanist of the YMF Debut Orchestra. He currently serves as assistant professor of composition at James Madison University, and was previously a graduate teaching fellow at the University of Southern California and music instructor at Renaissance Arts Academy in Eagle Rock, California.

Early life and education

Guinivan was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and began studying percussion at age 10. He earned his Bachelor of Music in composition and percussion performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from the USC's Thornton School Of Music.

Performing career

Guinivan's first professional performance was as a soloist on his "Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra", a piece he composed and premiered with the Downey Symphony. He premiered his new work "Meditation and Awakening" with the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall in May 2011.

Recognition

Guinivan's compositions have garnered multiple awards, including the 2007, 2010, and 2011 BMI Student Composer Awards, the 2008 and 2011 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, and second place in the 2009 Lotte Lehmann Foundation Art Song Competition. In 2013, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance for his work on Rupa-Khandha with the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet.