Dr. Kurt Gartner serves as Professor of Percussion at Kansas State University. There, he teaches applied percussion and percussion methods. Also, he directs the Percussion Ensemble, Keyboard Percussion Quartets, and the Latin Jazz Ensemble. As a 2010-2011 Tilford Fellow, he is coordinating an interdisciplinary study of Cuban arts. In the past, he was a Big 12 Faculty Fellow, collaborating with the percussion studio and jazz program at the University of Missouri. There, he provided instruction and performances in Afro-Cuban music and applications of technology in music. Also, he has served as Special Assistant to the Provost and currently serves as Coordinator of the university’s Peer Review of Teaching Program.

Prior to his appointment at KSU, Gartner served as Associate Professor of Bands at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. In 2001, he completed his Doctor of Arts degree at the University of Northern Colorado (Greeley), where he studied percussion and jazz performance and pedagogy. During his residency at UNC, he directed ensembles, taught jazz history, and was the Assistant Director of the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival. Upon commencement, he received the Graduate Dean’s Citation for Outstanding Dissertation for his research of the late percussion legend, Tito Puente. In association with this research, Gartner has also studied percussion and arranging at the prestigious Escuela Nacion�l de M�sica in Havana, Cuba.

An active performer and clinician, Gartner is an Educational Consultant for Remo, Inc. SABIAN Ltd., Sonor Inc., and Vic Firth Inc. His performance background includes orchestral, theater, cruise ship, commercial, and world percussion. He has toured with tabla master Sandip Burman, and is a founder and contributing composer of the Indiana-based Los Blancos Latin Jazz Band. He serves the Percussive Arts Society as Music Technology Editor for the journal Percussive Notes. Also, he is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, and is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.