Faculty
Robert LedBetter
Dr. Robert LedBetter is Professor of Music at The University of Montana where he is Director of Percussion Studies. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Percussion Performance from the University of North Texas, a M.M. in Percussion Performance from the University of Akron, and a B.M. in Music Education from Mars Hill College. He is currently serving as President of the Montana Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society and is active on the regional and national level as a performer, clinician and adjudicator.
Prior to his appointment at UM in 1990, Dr. LedBetter taught at Eastern New Mexico University, Tarleton State University, Navarro College and held a Teaching Fellowship at the University of North Texas for a total of four years. Orchestral experience includes positions with symphony orchestras in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Texas, New Mexico and he currently serves as Principal Timpanist and Percussionist with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra. While living in Dallas, he was lead player and soloist with the “Panhandlers,” a professional steel drum band, and performed in a variety of performing situations as a freelance percussionist including several recording sessions.
Dr. LedBetter is active as a concert artist performing throughout the Northwest area and has premiered several percussion works including a recent Montana premier of Neboja Zivkovic's Tales from the Center of the Earth for Solo Percussion and Wind Ensemble. The University of Montana Percussion Ensemble and “Islanders” Steel Band have created quite a following in the region drawing large crowds to each concert. Some of the artists featured with this group include Steve Smith, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Mark Ford, Andy Narell, Lalo Davila, Julie Spencer, Gregg Bisonette, Steve Houghton, Arthur Lipner, Gary Gibson, Will Kennedy and Jared Powell. The University of Montana Islanders Steel Band has released a CD entitled, Summer Songs and is currently completing a second CD to be released in 2006. In addition to experience with the steel pan, students at UM are also exposed to the percussion music of other cultures with the UM West African Drum Ensemble (the “Ewe” drums of Ghana and the djembes and dun-nuns of Guinea), the Brazilian Ensemble, Afro-Cuban Ensemble and the Jaya Budaya Balinese Gamelan Orchestra (Indonesian percussion orchestra).
Dr. LedBetter is also very active as a drumset artist performing regularly with such groups as Blue Talk & Love, Eden Atwood & the David Morgenroth Trio, Critical Martini, Salsa Loca, and the Ed Norton Big Band. As a member of the All-Star Trio at the UM Jazz Festivals, he has performed with such artists as Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Paquito D'Rivera, John Fedchock, Andy Narell, Ernie Watts, Bobby Shew, Terry Gibbs, Slide Hampton, Clark Terry, Eddie Daniels, and Buddy DeFranco. Dr. LedBetter is also an active composer/arranger for percussion ensemble and steel band with numerous works under publication with Panyard, Inc. and Honeyrock Publishing and is currently completing a new method book for steel band soon to be published with Drop6 Media. He is also an Educational Endorser for Zildjian Cymbals, Latin Percussion and Innovative Percussion.
Contact Dr. LedBetter: robert.ledbetter@umontana.edu