Jeff Stern, percussion (Amherst, MA), is emerging in the field of contemporary percussion for his “precision and impressive attention to timbral detail.” A native of Philadelphia, Jeff quickly gained recognition as he was selected from high school music students nationwide to perform alongside the Virginia Symphony Orchestra for President George W. Bush at America’s 400th birthday celebration in Jamestown. He is soon to be featured on the Vic Firth website for his performance of Manoury’s marimba duo from Le Livre des Claviers with percussionist Sharif Mamoun. Jeff has been involved with the Boston New Music Initiative and gave the New England premiere of Kyong Mee Choi’s Sublimation for marimba and electronics at their concert last fall. Last June, he performed at the Make Music New York Festival in a presentation of John Luther Adams’ large-scale percussion work Inuksuit for 99 percussionists, an event that made New York magazine’s top ten classical performances of 2011. Jeff has also participated in the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, the Chosen Vale International Percussion Seminar, and the McCormick Marimba Festival. He has performed in masterclasses for artists including Robert van Sice, Michael Burritt, and Daniel Druckman. Jeff recently completed his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where he studied with Ayano Kataoka and Thomas Hannum.