Biography

Stuart Langsam is a multi-faceted percussionist and music educator originally from Southern California. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance from San Jose State University, a Master of Music Degree from Oklahoma State University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Oklahoma.

While living in the Midwest, Dr. Langsam was a member of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic for eight seasons performing Classics, Pops, Ballet, and Youth concerts.  He also performed with the Kansas City Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, and Ft. Smith Symphony. Upon returning back to the Bay area he has had the opportunity to perform with a number of ensembles including the Santa Cruz Symphony, Stockton Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, Oakland Symphony and Symphony Silicon Valley. Mr. Langsam has also enjoyed playing for a variety of musical theater productions including the world premiere of Ain’t too Proud-The Life and Times of The Temptations at the Berkeley Repertory Theater, before making its Broadway debut. His summers have included performances at the Mendocino Music Festival and the Carmel Bach Festival. 

As an avid supporter of new music, he has commissioned and premiered works for a variety of instrumentations including solo marimba, snare drum with electronics, and percussion with voice. He has toured internationally and across the United States as a member of the professional percussion ensemble, Orphic Percussion. 

He presented a marching percussion exhibition at the 2011 Percussive Arts Society International Convention with the Oklahoma State University Drumline and instructional clinics at the Oklahoma Music Educators Association and the Oklahoma Day of Percussion. Dr. Langsam has been an Adjunct Professor of Percussion at Oklahoma State University and the University of Tulsa. 

He currently holds the office of Vice President of the Northern California Region of the California Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society. He is endorsed by Innovative Percussion and alongside his percussion colleagues in Orphic, he is an ensemble artist for Marimba One. He works with the percussion program at Saratoga High School, gives private lessons out of the Rhythm Academy of San Jose, and is a full-time instrumental music teacher at E.A. Hall Middle School in Watsonville, CA.

In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, playing strategy games, and spending time with his wife, three children, and their seven and a half pound mini-pincher/chihuahua mix, Shadow.