Bio
Percussionist, composer, improviser, and educator Cory Hills (b. 1981) thrives on breaking down musical barriers in innovative and creative ways. A graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (bachelors degree in percussion performance and music education) the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane, Australia (masters degree in percussion performance), and the University of Kansas (currently completing work towards a DMA in percussion performance and masters in music theory), his principal teachers include Michael Burritt, James Ross, Paul Wertico, Ruben Alvarez, Joel Spencer, Anders Åstrand, Vanessa Tomlinson, Fritz Hauser, Ji Hye Jung, Charles Wilkinson, Eddie Asten, and Andrea Molino. Cory has performed as a section member with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Orchestra, the United States Army Band, and the Topeka Symphony. He has performed as a soloist with the Queensland Orchestra, the United States Army Band, and the Northwestern University Percussion Ensemble. In addition, he was a finalist for the off-Broadway musical STOMP.
While at Northwestern, Hills collaborated frequently with members of Chicago’s new music community. He helped to develop an annual contemporary music colloquium, attempting to link composers of new music with performers of new music. This love and passion for new music led Hills to Brisbane, Australia where he studied new music and contemporary improvisation with percussionist and performance artist Vanessa Tomlinson. His studies in Australia yielded numerous solo recitals and performances with new music ensembles. During one of these performances, Hills met Andrea Molino, music director at Institute Fabrica, United Colors of Benetton’s research centre for the contemporary and exploratory arts located in Treviso, Italy. Molino offered Hills a six-month research fellowship to Fabrica, which culminated in a performance of Molino’s powerful orchestral work CREDO, at Queensland, Australia’s Summer Music Festival in July 2005.
While at Fabrica, Hills collaborated with artists from numerous continents in disciplines including graphic design, industrial design, interactive design, photography, film, music, and creative writing. Projects included work on The United Nations’ Anti-Smoking Campaign, the America’s Cup boat race opening ceremonies, and Songlines, a concert series performed in Caserta, Italy consisting of all new music composed and performed by the members of Fabrica’s music department. In addition to group collaboration, Hills began work on an independent project entitled The Percussive Art of Storytelling, a multi-disciplinary performance that brings contemporary-classical music to children in a fun and accessible manner.
After returning to the United States in September of 2005, Hills has been an active percussionist, composer, and educator. As a percussionist, Hills has performed numerous orchestral, chamber, solo, world, rock, musical theatre, dance, film, television, and radio concerts. He has furthered his voice in new music, having premiered and recorded dozens of works. In addition, Hills sponsors the annual Con/un/drum Solo Percussion Composition Competition geared towards increasing the repertoire for solo percussion. Hills performs alongside percussionist and dancer Matthew Coley in SI2, an interdisciplinary arts duo that seeks to fuse improvisation with eclectic musical styles. SI2 has performed throughout the United States and Eastern Europe, giving recitals and masterclasses.
As a composer, Hills scored, performed, and recorded the music for a short film by Ian Martin entitled The European Kid. In addition, he has composed numerous pieces for percussion and vocal storytelling. Hills has completed commissions for The Hall Center for the Humanities and Rocky Mountain National Park. An advocate for percussion as a global artistic discipline, Hills has been an artist in residence at Rocky Mountain National Park and the OMI International Arts Center. As an active educator and clinician, Hills has taught private percussion lessons and given master classes to grade school, high school, and university-aged students throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe, and Australia. In 2008, Hills was appointed as a member of the Percussive Arts Society's Education Committee.
Hills is carving out a unique niche in the classical-contemporary music scene: multi-disciplinary arts projects that combine his knowledge and proclivity as a performer with his passion and desire to educate others. The result has been an expansion of the Percussive Art of Storytelling, in which originally conceived children’s stories are blended with originally composed multiple percussion music. The performance is multi-faceted, utilizing many different artistic disciplines such as music, creative writing, theatre, and visual art. In May 2009, Hills launched The Percussive Art of Storytelling Outreach Program with generous support provided by the Zakoura Family Foundation. The mission of the outreach program is to bring classical music to underserved communities. To date, The Percussive Art of Storytelling has been performed more than 100 times to over 7,500 children and adults.
Hills currently resides in Lawrence, Kansas with his wife, Annalise Nawrocki, a PhD candidate at the University of Kansas in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology, and their daughter, Zoie.