Eliseo Rael

Eliseo Rael is the assistant coordinator of the Duquesne University Percussion Area, where he teaches applied percussion lessons to percussion majors. He also directed the Percussion Ensembles at Duquesne University for several years. He earned his Master of Music from New England Conservatory and his Bachelor of Music from the University of North Texas, having studied with Will Hudgins (Boston Symphony), Kalman Cherry (Dallas Symphony), Leigh Howard Stevens (marimba artist), She-e Wu (marimba artist), and Dr. Robert Schietroma. He also earned his Artist Diploma from Duquesne University, where he studied with Andrew Reamer (Principal Percussion Pittsburgh Symphony) and Chris Allen (Pittsburgh Symphony).

Eliseo was the principal percussionist for the contemporary ensemble IonSound Project. He has performed frequently with the Pittsburgh Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, and the Wheeling Symphony where he has performed as a soloist in their WSO on the Go series. He has previously served as Principal Percussionist of The Pittsburgh Live Chamber Orchestra, Principal Timpanist with the Texas Wind Symphony, and the Arlington Opera. He is also a member of the Pana Percussion Quartet and a faculty member of The Pana Percussion Summer Institute.

Eliseo was a member of the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland. As a member, he performed in the Verbier Music Festival, the Swiss Expo, and the World Economic Summit. In addition, he played in some of the world's finest halls while on a month-long European tour under the baton of Music Director James Levine and guest conductor Mstislav Rostrapovich. He has performed with Chick Corea and played under the direction of Kurt Massur, Rafael Frubeck de Burgos, Pavo Jarvi, Leonard Slatkin, Manfred Honeck, Erich Kunzel, Gunther Schuller, Marvin Hamlisch, Bobby McFerrin, and Eugene Corporone among others.

Eliseo taught privately in Dallas and Pittsburgh. His students play across the country in major orchestras and with artists such as Shallou and Rusted Root to name a few. His students have won numerous competitions and scholarship awards including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Modern Snare Drum Competition, the McKeesport Symphony Orchestra 2009 Young Artists Competition, Blackwood Theater Organ Society Scholarship competition, and Wheeling Symphony "Rachael Worby Scholarship" competition among others, and have been winners of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Young Artist Competition.

His students have been accepted to New England Conservatory, The Juilliard School, The Curtis School of Music, and Cleveland Institute of Music, among others.

• A.D., Duquesne University
• M.M., New England Conservatory
• B.M., University of North Texas

• Marimba Repertoire
• Contemporary Percussion/New Music
• Orchestral Percussion
• Percussion Arrangements and Transcriptions