Andrew Barlow (b. 1985) is a multi-faceted percussionist with over 15 years of teaching, composing and performance experience. He has been invited to perform on 3 continents, performed in Japan, South Korea, Canada, and all 48 continental states. He has taught various university percussion ensembles, World Class marching ensembles, and high achieving scholastic ensembles in Texas, Pennsylvania, and the Carolinas. Andrew has composed and arranged for over 70 scholastic ensembles and independent ensembles across North America. His areas of focus include, but are not limited to marching percussion, concert percussion, world percussion, drum set, musical theatre, orchestral music, studio recording, composing and management/administration.
Andrew holds bachelors’ degrees in Music Education and Percussion Performance from Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, North Carolina. He successfully pursued a double master’s degree in Percussion Performance and Music Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Currently, Andrew is a doctoral student at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro studying Percussion Performance and Ethnomusicology and serves as Percussion Faculty at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
Broadway touring credits include roles as a Percussionist and the Percussion Manager for the Tony and Emmy Award winning Broadway show Blast! Off-Broadway credits include The Golem of Havana and Billy, Goat, Gruff the Musical. Andrew has performed and/or recorded with Madonna, Kevin Antunes, American Idol's Kimberley Locke, and legendary drum set artist Swiss Chris.
An active member in the Percussive Arts Society (PAS), Andrew serves on the Composition Committee dedicated to promoting the creation of new works and education for percussion composition. In 2020 Andrew was asked to perform and conduct with The University of North Carolina Percussion Ensemble at the PASIC showcase concert.
Andrew’s involvement with the marching percussion community spans over a decade. He has served on percussion staff for The Cadets and The Reading Buccaneers, and served as a Percussion Coordinator with The Colts Drum and Bugle Corps and Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps. No stranger to indoor marching percussion, Andrew has served as a choreographer for Monarch Independent Percussion and an instructor for Spirit Winter Percussion and United Percussion Indoor Percussion Ensemble. Currently, Andrew is the Percussion Supervisor for Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps from Sacramento, California.
Since 2012, Andrew has been devoted to providing quality music through percussion performance, arrangements, and education as the Sole Proprietor of his own company, Barlow Percussion, LLC. Working closely with students, composers, and ensembles he has been able to provide services to over 70 ensembles from all over the world including Japan, Canada and the United States. Andrew is a member of The Percussive Arts Society and an artist for Zildjian Cymbals, Innovative Percussion Inc. and Pearl/Adams Corporation. Andrew currently resides in Greensboro, NC with his wife Melissa and their son Aiden.
