Dr. Lucas Bernier
University of Mary
Dr. Lucas Bernier is currently the Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND where he directs the Steel Band and Percussion Ensemble. He works throughout the Midwest as a performer, educator, adjudicator, and clinician.
As a versatile performer, Lucas frequently performs in a diverse range of musical settings including contemporary, classical, jazz, popular, and world music. He has performed with the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony, Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, Soulsa de Fargo, Vespers Jazz Group, Poco Fuego and Pan Delirium steel bands, and a variety of musical theatre productions. An active collaborator as well as a soloist, he performs with the Dan Moore Percussion Group, the Bernier/Williams Duo (percussion/trombone), the Bismarck Jazz Collective, and with musicians throughout the Midwest. Dr. Bernier has also recorded contemporary percussion music for the Innova record label.
Lucas’s teaching experience has led to multiple positions in the Midwest. In addition to the University of Mary, he directs the St. Mary’s Central High School Steel Band and has served as a Faculty Percussion Artist for the University of Iowa Summer Camps and the Lutheran Summer Music Academy. He has also directed the awarding winning Jefferson High School ‘Band of Blue’ drumline and front ensemble in Cedar Rapids, IA, and regularly presents clinics and workshops to elementary and high schools.
Dr. Bernier holds degrees from the University of Iowa (D.M.A and M.A.) in Percussion Performance and Pedagogy, and Minnesota State University Moorhead (B.M.) in Audio Production and Percussion Performance. He has studied percussion with Dan Moore and Kenyon Williams. Lucas is proud to be endorsed by Innovative Percussion.