“I began playing Marimba One in 1996 when my college bought its first 5.0 from Ron. The sound from every M1 I’ve played since is warm, resonate and consistent… not to mention the elite craftsmanship. For 25 years M1 has been my first choice in marimbas.”
Dr. Stefan Ice
Dr. Stefan Ice is currently the Percussion Director at Lee High School in Baytown, Texas. In this role he leads every aspect of the percussion program from beginning sixth grade percussion students to senior percussionists at the high school. He leads Lee High School’s award-winning Percussion Ensemble and Gander Drumline. Most recently, he has created the first steel band for his school The Pan Ganders. Dr. Ice also teaches private lessons as instructor of Percussion at Lee College in Baytown.
In his tenure at Lee High School, Dr. Ice has led his students to multiple consecutive first divisions at Texas State Solo and Ensemble Competition. His students have also performed at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention. The Gander Drumline has won several percussion awards at marching band competitions in Texas and Louisiana.
Prior to his time in Baytown, Dr. Ice taught private lessons, drum set classes, percussion master classes and American Popular Music at the University of Oklahoma. While at OU he performed with every major ensemble, provided percussion accompaniment for modern dance classes, and was the first call percussionist for OU’s Musical Theater Department. His performances with the OU Percussion Orchestra enabled him the opportunity to perform on the World and New York premiere of Eric Ewazen’s Palace of Nine Perfections and on the Albany Records release Night Watch. As a doctoral candidate Dr. Ice was a founding member of the OU Percussion Quartet which performed a showcase concert at the National Convention of Percussion Pedagogy.
Dr. Ice holds a Bachelors Degree in Music Performance from Texas A&M University-Commerce and his Masters and Doctoral Degrees from the University of Oklahoma. He has studied with Mr. Jim Whitfill, Dr. Jimmy Finnie, Dr. Brian West, Dr. Richard Gipson and Dr. Lance Drege. In addition to his collegiate work, Dr. Ice studied abroad in Havana, Cuba, focusing on traditional Cuban hand percussion.
Dr. Ice is a member of Texas Music Educators Association and Percussive Arts Society. He proudly serves as an Educational Artist for Marimba One and Vic Firth.
When not performing and teaching music, Dr. Ice can usually be found on a trail at one of our National Parks with his son Gavin and fiancé Cheryl. As an avid camper and hiker he has visited over 40 National Park and Monuments and summitted multiple “fourteeners” in Colorado.