Michael Ptacin, Percussion

Michael Ptacin is a percussionist living in North Carolina. He has performed as a soloist with the UNCG Symphony Orchestra, Greensboro Concert Band, at Lawrence University and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. As a freelance artist, Dr. Ptacin performs regularly as a drum set player and pit percussionist for several musical theatre productions a year, including for UNCG, The Drama Center at Greensboro City Arts, and Elon University. As an ensemble member, he has performed with UNCG’s Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, and Percussion Ensemble, Greensboro Concert Band, Salisbury Symphony, and Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. Michael premiered David Gillingham’s Gate to Heaven: Marimba Concerto No. 1 for Marimba & Orchestra in 2005 under the direction of Maestro Robert Gutter. 
In April 2012, he was the soloist for the North Carolina premiere of Nathan Daughtrey’s Halcyon Days for marimba and percussion quartet. Dr. Ptacin has participated in the commissioning of several works for solo marimba and, as an avid supporter of chamber music, has commissioned new works featuring marimba. His commissions include composers such as Nathan Daughtrey, Derek Tywoniuk, Duane Rice, Lawton Hall, and Steven Snowden.
In 2009, Dr. Ptacin served as Concerts Manager for the Zeltsman Marimba Festival (ZMF) at the request of artistic director Nancy Zeltsman following his Percussion News review of ZMF ’07—he also made desserts [including these] for the gala reception following the world-premiere performance of ZMF New Music’s Intermediate Masterworks for Marimba collections. Dr. Ptacin has been an administrative member of ZMF since the fall of 2010. As the Marketing Assistant, he designs and creates email communications and ads, compiles concert programs and writes program notes, and curates the ZMF Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. Additionally, he served as photographer for the 2011 and 2013 festivals.
Dr. Ptacin was a member of the front ensemble (lead marimba) of Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps from 1998 through 2002 under Percussion Caption Head Paul Rennick. His tenure at Carolina Crown was recognized with the Five-Year Member award in 2002—the first percussionist to receive the award in the organization.
Dr. Ptacin received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a focus on music education. His interest and love for music utilizing electronics served as the basis of his doctoral research focusing on published works for marimba and electronics. Dr. Ptacin's primary teachers included Cort McClaren, Nathan Daughtrey, and Kristopher Keeton, and he has also studied privately with Nancy Zeltsman, Jack Van Geem, and Jean Geoffroy.