UGA Alumni Ensemble Lineage Percussion Named Fischoff's 2024 Ann Divine Educator Award Winner

Photography credit: Kathleen Dreier Photography

Story by Kara Kane, Fischoff Education Director

The Fischoff National Chamber Music Association is delighted to announce that Lineage Percussion has been selected as the winner of Fischoff’s 2024 Ann Divine Educator Award. This national award recognizes the educational outreach work of Fischoff Competition alumni who have demonstrated outstanding and imaginative programming for children and youth in the United States. It honors musicians who have established professional careers in chamber music, and have proven their ability to successfully build a career in both chamber music performance and educational outreach.

Named in honor of retired Executive Director, Ann Divine, this award recognizes her visionary leadership in cultivating community outreach through chamber music. As winner of the Ann Divine Educator Award, Lineage Percussion will receive a coveted endorsement from Fischoff, a cash award, and a weeklong residency in St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties in Indiana. Taking place in Fall 2024, Lineage Percussion will conduct workshops and perform interactive concerts in schools, community centers and libraries. The week will include multiple performances of Fischoff’s flagship program, Stories and Music: S.A.M. I Am, which musically reenacts a children’s book and will be featured as part of the St. Joseph County Public Library’s story time programming. Lineage Percussion will also work with Fischoff’s Chamber Music Academy and Elkhart County’s El Sistema (ECoSistema) students to dig deeper into the art of chamber music with children and teens who would otherwise not have access to these opportunities.

Lineage Percussion, comprised of Trevor Barroero, Lauren Floyd, and Wesley Sumpter, is an exciting trio that spreads its roots into many facets of the chamber music industry. Founded in 2014 in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia, Lineage Percussion is deeply rooted in a rich history of orchestral percussion. Whether they are playing marimbas, snare drums, bongos, or household objects, their identical training results in a uniform approach to each and every percussion instrument resulting in the trio’s distinctive sound.

Social advocacy and justice are important facets of the group. Through their commissions, as well as compositions of their own, Lineage Percussion aims to uplift communities and ideas that need support from the arts. Central to them is the idea that music must be representative of the current times and this belief has resulted in more than a dozen new works commissioned and premiered by Lineage Percussion. Professionally endorsed as educational artists with Black Swamp Percussion, Remo Drumheads, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Drumsticks and Dragonfly Percussion, they have presented clinics, recitals and outreach events for elementary schools, high schools, retirement communities, and private organizations in Maryland, Georgia, Arizona, and most recently at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa.

Fischoff Education Director, Kara Kane, remarked, “Lineage Percussion made history in 2016 when they were the first percussion ensemble to win a medal in our Senior Division, bringing home the bronze medal. Percussion chamber music has exploded since 2017, as seen with multiple percussion ensemble GRAMMY wins and nominations, so we are thrilled to be able to highlight incredible chamber music repertoire for this instrumentation. Lineage Percussion’s creative, interactive approach to music making will empower and inspire students to find their own inner musician. We can’t wait to see what creative twists Lineage Percussion introduces to our Stories & Music program and how they will reach even broader music making communities in our area.”

On behalf of Lineage Percussion, Wesley Sumpter responded to the award, “Fischoff’s commitment to education and community engagement is quite extraordinary. It truly aligns with our vision and core values as a group in continuing to increase and expand accessibility to music for young audiences around the world…We can’t wait to share our love for music and percussion with many students.”

Fischoff’s Educator Award Residency is generously made possible by lead sponsor Shein Charitable Trust.