Michael Sammons, D.M.A., serves as the Percussion Area Head at the University of Utah. Sammons is recognized as a versatile performer in solo and chamber, symphonic, marching percussion arts and non-western musical styles. In addition to his work with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, he performs with the Utah Opera, Ballet West Orchestra, various theater venues including Pioneer Theater Company, Capitol and Eccles Theaters, Utah Chamber Artists and NOVA (New Music Chamber Series). He also directs the "Street Drumline" for the NBA's Utah Jazz. His work can be heard on ESPN, TNT, TBS and local media outlets as well as diverse recording projects, including projects with the Utah Symphony Orchestra.
Sammons has appeared extensively throughout the U.S. and in Brazil as a guest artist and clinician, including multiple performances at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), Universidad Federal de Rio de Janeiro and de Recife in Brazil, various Percussive Arts Society's Days of Percussion, National Association for Music Education, numerous state Music Educators Association Conventions and prominent universities across the U.S.
He has performed with orchestras in Florida, Arizona and Alabama, where he was percussionist and assistant timpanist with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra from 2008-2012. Sammons is an endorsed artist for Vic Firth Sticks/Mallets, Remo Drumheads, Sabian Cymbals, Grover Pro Percussion and Yamaha.
Sammons has served as a member of the Executive Committee for the Percussive Arts Society as well as other appointments as the University Pedagogy Committee Chair, Education Committee and Collegiate Committee founding member. From 2013-2016, Sammons served as president for the Utah PAS Chapter, which won the award for Chapter of the Year in 2015. He is a contributing author to Percussive Notes and PAS Educators' Companion and contributed text and video for the third edition of Teaching Percussion by Gary Cook, a percussion methods book used worldwide. In addition, Sammons has commissioned several new works for percussion by prominent composers including Anders Koppel, Dwayne Rice and Christopher Deane.
Serving as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at the University of South Alabama from 2008-2012, he founded and established the USA Jag' Drumline, USA Steel Band and World Music Group, with toured extensively throughout the region. Sammons directs the Treasure Coast Percussion Camp in his hometown of Vero Beach, FL., founded in 2005.
Sammons received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance from the University of Arizona, where he served as Graduate Teaching Assistant and Director of the UA Steel Band Program from 2003-2007. He received the 2007 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant award for the UA College of Fine Arts. Sammons earned a Master of Music in Percussion Performance from the University of Arizona in 2005 and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education, with a Performer's Certificate, from the University of Florida in 2002. His travels abroad include Trinidad, Ghana and Brazil.
