Boyce Jeffries Jr.
Boyce Jeffries Jr., DMA
Adjunct Professor of Percussion
School of Music 214 | 936.294.1368 | Bwj009@shsu.edu | www.boycejeffriespercussion.com
Division | Percussion
Boyce Jeffries, Jr. is in his second year of serving as a faculty member with the Sam Houston State School of Music. He teaches applied percussion lessons, the percussion methods course for music education majors, music theory, and musicianship / ear training. He is the director of the University Percussion Ensemble, the Second Steel Band, and the Bearkat Drumline.
A native of the West Coast, Boyce completed his first three degrees (B.M., B.M.E., M.M) at California State University–Sacramento under the guidance of percussionists Daniel Kennedy and Christopher Froh and later attended the University of Toronto where he studied with Aiyun Huang and Beverley Johnston. His DMA dissertation examined the “YouTube effect” on the percussion field, primarily pertaining to performance, interpretation, perception, and education. Rather than seeking to reconcile the concerns with and benefits of viewing YouTube videos of percussion performance, he would like to encourage everyone to contextualize these digital experiences and see how they may, or may not, pertain to one’s own practice as a musician.
As a performer and composer, Mr. Jeffries strives to be a “percussive chameleon” that thrives on eclecticism. In addition to his graduate studies in Canada, Boyce served as a percussionist with the Toronto Tabla Ensemble from 2017–2020 under the direction of Ritesh Das. By studying and further understanding the syllabic language of tabla performance, Boyce transcribed the group’s compositions and arranged them to be performed on concert percussion instruments (e.g., vibraphone, marimba, drum set). He can be heard on select tracks from the group’s 7th album, Unexpected Guests, and is excited to continue working with Ritesh and the ensemble.
His debut album, Near & Dear, was released in February of 2022 and contains a collection of original compositions and works in his performance repertoire that have a heightened level of sentimental value to him, personally.