Bio


Full Bio

Colin Malloy is an award-winning percussionist, composer, and audio programmer specializing in contemporary solo and chamber percussion, the steelpan, and music technology. He is a multi-instrumentalist who, in addition to a wide array of percussion instruments, also performs on steelpan, electric guitar and bass, and the Japanese koto. He combines musical textures with custom software to explore the world around us. Colin has shared the stage with such performers as Steven Schick, So Percussion, Bang on a Can All-Stars, and more. He has performed at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention numerous times, the Bang on a Can Summer Marathon, and at the Trinidad and New York Panorama steelband competitions. Colin can be heard on the Southern Oregon University Percussion Ensemble album, Electric Rebel Poetry (which features an original composition and an arrangement by Colin), Mark Applebaum’s 30, and Matthew Burtner’s Icefield. Colin was a founding member of Left Edge Percussion, the chamber percussion group in residence at Southern Oregon University under the direction of Terry Longshore.

Colin has been recognized with numerous awards. He won first place in the 2021 AES Student Competition: MATLAB Plugin. His composition, (De/Con)struction in Steel and Electricity, won first prize in the 2014 James P. and Shirley J. O’Brien Endowment Composition Competition hosted by the University of Arizona. He is also the recipient of a PhD Fellowship and a teaching fellowship from University of Victoria. In 2022 he was Artist in Residence at Ocean Networks Canada where he composed new works to explore contemporary issues surrounding the oceans.

Colin received an interdisciplinary PhD in Music and Computer Science from University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. His PhD research was centered on the steelpan and music technology. He studied the acoustical properties of the steelpan, used that information to design custom audio effects for it, and then composed and performed new electroacoustic works for steelpan and percussion using those audio effects. He also holds a BA in Pure Mathematics from Whitman College, a BS in Music Education from Oregon State University, a MM in Percussion Performance from Southern Oregon University, and an M.Mus in Music Technology from University of Victoria. He’s pretty sure he has enough degrees now…


Short Bio

Colin Malloy is a percussionist, composer, and audio programmer specializing in contemporary solo and chamber percussion, the steelpan, and music technology. He combines musical textures with custom software to explore the world around us. He has performed around the world, notably numerous times at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the Bang on a Can Summer Marathon, and at the Trinidad and New York Panorama steel band competitions. He has also performed on albums released by the Southern Oregon University Percussion Ensemble, Mark Applebaum, and Matthew Burtner. In 2022, Colin was the artist in residence for Ocean Networks Canada where he composed new works to explore contemporary issues surrounding the oceans. Colin received an interdisciplinary PhD in Music and Computer Science from University of Victoria.