Mt. Lebanon Percussion Program
Providing positive life changing experiences and promoting excellence through diverse public school percussion education and performance opportunities within a caring, inclusive, and nurturing environment.
ABOUT
MT. LEBANON PERCUSSION
Sponsored by MarimbaOne - REMO - VicFirth - Zildjian - Meinl
Lead by Director of Percussion Studies, Mr. Jeremy DeLuca
Forty years ago, Mt. Lebanon Percussion began with Richard Minnotte and 15 high school students, performing one song at the Concert Band’s spring program. Since then, the program has grown to include 175 students in grades 4-12 and features over 15 performances per season.
With eight concert ensembles, four specialty ensembles and the marching percussion section, Mt. Lebanon Percussion has become recognized as one of the premier public school percussion programs in the United States. WQED-FM (Pittsburgh’s NPR station) calls Mt. Lebanon Percussion, “…a success beyond belief.” In 1997, the adjudication panel for the Golden Gate Music Festival in San Francisco, CA. called Mt. Lebanon Percussion, “One of the finest examples of music education we have ever seen.” The National Association of Music Educators (MENC) has identified MTL Percussion as “One of the Best of the Best.” Most recently, Cort McClaren, Director of the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy wrote: “…Mt. Lebanon Percussion is one of the most distinguished examples of excellence in the United States. The Mt. Lebanon program demonstrates musical excellence rarely experienced in the US.”
The 2023/2024 school year marks the 40th season for our percussion program. Throughout its history, Mt. Lebanon Percussion has received both local, state, and national recognition. In our 33rd season, the Concert Percussion Ensemble and Percussion Orchestra were selected to perform at the Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival. This was our fifth appearance at this festival (2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016).
In January 2011, the Marching Percussion Ensemble was invited by the National Hockey League and NBC Television to perform during the player introductions for the 2011 NHL Winter Classic. In May 2010, the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy invited the Concert Percussion Ensemble to perform the “Keynote” concert for their annual conference held at The University of Oklahoma. In April 2006, the Concert Ensemble was selected by the National Association of Music Educators (MENC) to perform for their national convention in Salt Lake City, UT. The Mt. Lebanon Concert Percussion Ensemble was the only percussion ensemble in the country to be invited to perform for the 2006 National Conference.
In 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, and 2023 the Concert Percussion Ensemble was selected by the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) to perform for their annual convention. In 2003, PMEA selected
Mt. Lebanon Percussion as one of only three musical ensembles in the Commonwealth to be recommended to perform at the Music Educator’s National Conference. In October of 2018, Mt. Lebanon Percussion was named a marimba one Artist Ensemble by marimba one, one of the world-wide leaders in the design and manufacture of keyboard percussion instruments. In May 2010, Remo Inc. and Vic Firth Inc. both joined the sponsorship team of MTL Percussion. Last May, Meinl honored MTL Percussion with a sponsorship. In addition, since 1996 the Concert Ensemble has been honored to perform the live music for the KDKA-TV Children’s Hospital Free Care Fund Telethon.