Darrin D. Hicks is an active teacher, arranger, clinician, and performer in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Over the years, he has studied under some of the greatest teachers in percussion, including Dr. Brian West, Dr. Richard Gipson, J.J. Pipitone, Paul Rennick, Joey Carter, Lee Beddis, and Allen Joanis.
Mr. Hicks graduated in 2002 from Lewisville High School, where he was under the direction of J.J. Pipitone. While in high school, Mr. Hicks had the opportunity of performing with Marimba Artist She-E-Wu as well as the 2nd Place LHS Drumline at PASIC in 2000.
Shortly after high school, Mr. Hicks began his career in Drum Corps International, where he marched snare drum with the Crossmen during the summers of 2002 and 2003, and later with the Phantom Regiment in 2004 and 2005. At TCU, Mr. Hicks was a member of the Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, Steel Band, Marching Band, and New Music Ensemble and the 2006 winner of the TCU Concerto Competition (Marimba). He has been a featured soloist with the Percussion Ensemble, was very active on campus, and was Founder and President of the TCU Percussion Club.
Mr. Hicks is a member of TMEA, where he performed a Percussion Ensemble Showcase Concert in Spring of 2005. Also a member of PAS, he performed in a showcase concert with the TCU Percussion Ensemble after winning the “Call For Tapes” competition, a Performance Clinic with the 2005 Phantom Regiment Drumline, and a “FUNdamentals” Timpani Clinic with J.J. Pipitone and Paul Buyer. He has also competed in numerous PASIC Solo Competitions in the Snare Drum category where he has received 5th, 3rd, and 2nd Place, and in the Marimba Category, where he received 4th Place. Mr. Hicks served as the Section Leader/Drum Captain of the WGI Independent World Finalist, Surround Sound.
After college, Mr. Hicks was a full time Band Director at Paschal High School and then Southwest High School in Fort Worth ISD. He was also on staff with the TCU Drumline, the Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps, and served as Assistant Director for Independent World Finalist Surround Sound Percussion.
Mr. Hicks has spent the last two years as a Graduate Assistant to the TCU Percussion Studio, and earned a Masters Degree in Percussion Performance in May. While in graduate school, he had the opportunity to teach/assist many classes and ensembles including Percussion Methods, Percussion Pedagogy, Marching Band Percussion Ensemble II, Steel Band, and Undergraduate Lessons. He was also Principal Timpanist in the TCU Symphony Orchestra, where he had the opportunity to perform Brahms’ Requiem at Bass Hall, and Stravinsky’s Firebird in Lila Cockrell Theatre at the 2011 TMEA Convention in San Antonio, TX. In the Spring of 2010, Mr. Hicks won the prestigious TCU Concerto Competition and had the honor of performing Jennifer Higdon’s Grammy Award-Winning Percussion Concerto as a featured soloist with the TCU Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Hicks also commissioned and premiered Shattered Dreamscapes for Solo Marimba by Dr. Martin Blessinger, which will soon be available at C. Alan Publications. He can also be heard on both of the TCU Percussion Ensemble recordings,The Palace of Nine Perfections and Escape Velocity, which is available on iTunes.
Mr. Hicks still performs regularly and is a member of Dynamic Rhythm Entertainment, the Cutting Edge Haunted House “Zombie” Drumline, Dallas Mavericks Drumline, and the Dallas Cowboys Drumline, and is also looking forward to writing and arranging for the Baylor University Drumline in the Fall.
