Instrument/Department: Percussion Ensembles
Joined Hochstein Faculty in: 2002
Jim Tiller was appointed Principal Percussionist and Assistant Principal Timpanist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in 1995. He joined the music faculty at SUNY Geneseo in 1996, where he directs all percussion studies and is conductor of the Geneseo Percussion Ensemble. He has also served as conductor of the Geneseo Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Tiller is director of the Percussion Ensembles Program at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance.
Tiller earned the Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance and Literature, and the prestigious Performer’s Certificate, from the Eastman School of Music in 1990, where he was a percussion student of John H. Beck and conducting student of David Effron. He completed the Bachelor of Music Education degree and Performer’s Certificate from the University of South Carolina in 1988, where he was a percussion student of James Hall.
Active in virtually all musical genres, Tiller has performed throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. As a soloist and chamber musician he has performed for professional conventions and festivals, including those of the Percussive Arts Society, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Spoleto Festival, American Harp Society Conference, International Viola Congress, and International Double Reed Society, among others. He has been featured on WXXI’s Live from Hochstein, Eastman’s Faculty Artist Series, Society for Chamber Music in Rochester, Friends of Music, and Fortissimo! Tiller has recorded for harmonia mundi usa, Sony Music, NAXOS, ADMLive, Capstone, and other labels. He has also performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic, South Carolina Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, and Binghamton Symphony, among others.