About Andrea Venet

Dr. Andrea Venet is a percussion artist, soloist, educator, composer, and chamber musician specializing in contemporary and classical genres. She is Associate Professor and head of the percussion department at the University of North Florida, where she directs the percussion ensemble, teaches applied percussion, pedagogy, literature, and methods courses, and co-directs the UNF NuMIX ensemble. As a concerto soloist, Venet has performed with the Banda Sinfónica de la Provincia de Córdoba, Banda Sinfonica de Arroyito, Central Iowa Wind Ensemble, UNF Wind Symphony, and as an orchestral musician has performed with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. In high demand as a guest artist and clinician, she has performed and presented nationally and internationally at institutions, festivals, and conferences including Universidad Provincial de Córdoba, Prairie Music Residency, Kyoto City University of Arts, TMEA, Great Plains International Marimba Competition, Arts Empowering Life Residency, Iowa Bandmasters Association, Percussive Arts Society International Convention, and the Steve Weiss Mallet Festival.

Venet is also a founding member of the percussion duo Escape Ten, formed in 2012 with Dr. Annie Stevens. Dedicated to exploring diverse musical styles through percussion, Escape Ten is known for collaborative commissioning projects, innovative arrangements, and dynamic touring performances. The duo has performed and lectured at more than 40 universities, appeared at five international conferences, and was featured on NPR’s Performance Today. As guest artists, their appointments have included the WASBE and Ágora Actual Festivals in Spain, McGill University, Barnes Foundation, Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research, Leigh Howard Stevens Marimba Seminar, Eastman School of Music, multiple PAS Days of Percussion, among many others. Concerto performances include the U.S. premiere of John Psathas’ double concerto for percussion and orchestra with the Roanoke Symphony, performances of Viet Cuong’s Re(new)al, and Séjourné’s Double Concerto. Through a collaboration with composer Eric Guinivan, Escape Ten received a prestigious marimba duo commission from the Fromm Foundation for Illuminations (2018).

Alongside their performances, Escape Ten maintains signature “Escape Ten Series” mallets through Malletech and a publication series through Keyboard Percussion Publications. The duo has released two albums, Our Favorite Things (Ravello, 2020) and Colours of a Groove (2014). Their name originates from their original cross-country touring model—traveling and performing extensively along Interstate 10 in a Ford Escape.

An award-winning and passionate pedagogue, Venet is the recipient of the Gerson Yessin Distinguished Professorship in Classical Studies, the UNF Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, and multiple awards recognizing research and creative activity. Her scholarly and creative interests include performance, composition, pedagogy, marimba and voice, and historically informed approaches to performing Bach on marimba. As a composer, her works and commissions have been performed internationally and featured at PASIC, including performances by Third Coast Percussion and the Drumily Percussion Group in Taiwan. Her music and writings are published through DrGlockenAV Publications, KPP, Tapspace, and Percussive Notes.

Venet can be heard on the albums Revelations, This Prismasonic Rock I Stand, Our Favorite Things, Colours of a Groove, and Viñao. She holds a DMA in Performance and Literature with a minor in Pedagogy, as well as the Performer’s Certificate, from the Eastman School of Music. She earned additional degrees from Rutgers University and Arizona State University. Her former teachers include Michael Burritt, She-e Wu, Bob Becker, Leigh Howard Stevens, J.B. Smith, and Bill Cahn. Venet currently serves on the Percussive Arts Society Board of Advisors and proudly endorses Malletech, DREAM Cymbals, Black Swamp Percussion, and Remo drumheads.