Biography
Joe Bergen is a musician, educator, composer, and arts administrator dedicated to building diverse and equitable music communities. Joe instructs Instrumental Methods, Elementary Music Methods, and Percussion Methods at Montclair State University. Joe is best known as a founding member and Co-Artistic Director of Mantra Percussion, Inc., described by The New York Times as “finely polished” and by NPR’s All Things Considered as bringing “a paradigm shift” to percussion. Joe is Director of Percussion at the New Jersey Youth Symphony and Director of Percussion Studies and adjunct music education faculty at Caldwell University. He has also taught for NJPAC, Kean University, Stevens Institute of Technology, and in the Elizabeth, Rahway, Ramsey, and Newark Public Schools.
Joe has toured North America, Asia, and Europe, with highlights including the San Francisco Symphony’s American Mavericks series, Pulitzer Prize–winner David Lang’s Collected Stories at Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall’s REDCAT Theater, the Right Now Festival in Seoul, Korea, and the Sacrum Profanum series in Krakow, Poland. He appears on over a dozen albums and has premiered over one hundred new works. Joe has presented workshops for Carnegie Hall, the New Jersey Music Educators Association, Percussive Arts Society, Montclair State University, William Paterson University, and Mannes Conservatory.
Joe is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in Music Education at Boston University and holds degrees from William Paterson University and Montclair State University. His research interests include Eco-Justice Education, Community Music, and Pre-Service Teacher Training.
Resume/CV
Research
Music Education - Instrumental Methods, Elementary Methods, Percussion Methods
Media Expertise
Music Education - Instrumental Methods, Elementary Methods, Percussion Methods