Josh Graham
Praised as “beguiling” (Chicago Tribune) and for his “thoughtful artistry” (Chicago Classical Review), percussionist Dr. Josh Graham has had the pleasure of performing throughout the United States and Canada. He currently serves as Assistant Professor and Percussion Program Coordinator at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he also serves as Director of the New Music Festival. In addition, he serves as Executive Director and percussionist for the trio F-PLUS, and regularly collaborates with the Chen String Quartet (led by Chicago Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Robert Chen).
The 2025-26 season includes a wide variety of performances and teaching opportunities for Dr. Graham. They including Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto with the Illinois Wind Symphony; the world premiere of Donnacha Dennehy’s new work Moire for F-PLUS (commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation at the Library of Congress) at the U of I New Music Festival; a performance as soloist on John Williams’ “Escapades” with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony; and the world premiere of Pulitzer Prize-Winner Shulamit Ran’s new work for solo marimba (commissioned by the Illinois Arts Council) at the MasterWorks Festival in Virginia, along with master classes at the University of Michigan, Princeton University, Arizona State University, Roosevelt University, and others.
Primarily active in the creation of new works for percussion in both solo and chamber music contexts, Josh has commissioned and premiered chamber works by Augusta Read Thomas, Jessie Montgomery, Chen Yi, Donnacha Dennehy, George Tsontakis, Marta Ptaszynska, Charles Peck, Gemma Peacocke, Emma O’Halloran, among many others. He made his concerto debut in 2014 at the Aspen Music Festival with Steve Mackey’s “Micro-Concerto,” and his current project “Music and Literature” pairs new solo marimba works based on poetry and prose, premiered at the author’s homes. These recent works include pieces by Tina Davidson, Mike Conrad, and Griffin Candey based on the writings of Robert Frost, James Hearst, and Ernest Hemingway, respectively. In funding various commissions and projects, Dr. Graham and his ensembles have received grants from the Fromm Foundation, the Koussevitzky Foundation, New Music USA, Chamber Music America, the Barlow Endowment, the American Music Project, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Irish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of New Zealand, with many of the applications written by Dr. Graham.
Josh has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, the National Gallery of Art, the DiMenna Center, the Princeton Sound Kitchen Series, the Detroit Institute of Art, the Milwaukee Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Polish Consulate of Chicago, and at dozens of universities across the country. Conference appearances include the New Music Gathering, International Computer Music Conference, the Society of Composers, Inc. Conference, the Northwestern University New Music Conference, and the International Clarinet Association “ClarinetFest.” Josh has performed with prominent chamber music groups such as Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Ensemble Dal Niente, ~Nois Saxophone Ensemble, the Sinta Quartet, the Orion Ensemble, Lakeshore Rush, as well as with members of the Emerson Quartet, Silk Road Ensemble, Detroit Symphony, eighth blackbird, and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. His performances have been broadcast on WFMT-Chicago, WBLV-West Michigan, and WPRB-Princeton.
Dr. Graham serves as a Section Percussionist with the Sinfonia da Camera and Champaign-Urbana Symphony, and was previously Principal Percussionist and occasional Principal Timpanist with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony in Iowa. He has performed with the Dubuque Symphony, West Michigan Symphony, Midland Symphony (MI), Michigan Philharmonic, and in the summers as Principal Timpanist with the Blue Lake Festival Orchestra. Festival experience includes the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Ear Taxi Festival, the Chicago Duo Piano Festival, the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, and two summers as the percussionist with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble at the Aspen Music Festival.
Dr. Graham is committed to serving the next generation as an educator. He served as Instructor of Percussion at the University of Northern Iowa from 2022-24, and previously served on the faculty of Triton College, Roosevelt University, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. He has also had the honor of giving percussion master classes across the country, including at the Universities of Kentucky, Iowa, Maryland, Delaware, Missouri-Kansas City, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, among many others.
Dr. Graham holds degrees from Central Michigan University (BM), The University of Michigan (MM), and the University of Illinois (DMA). He is proud to endorse Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Marimba One instruments, Zildjian Cymbals, and Black Swamp Percussion Instruments.
