Michael Wimberly
A drummer and percussionist, Michael Wimberly is also a composer of note and has written for prestigious New York dance companies.
Biography
Wimberly was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio during the civil rights era surrounded by the toxic fumes of steel mills buoyed by a sea of blue-collar workers. This is where Wimberly鈥檚 early beginnings in soul, funk, rock, jazz, and classical music began. Beating rhythms on the hoods of cars and boxes while dancing to the pulsating music of James Brown, Sly Stone, Funkadelic, and Aretha Franklin鈥he spirit of revolution was in the air.
It was during Wimberly鈥檚 undergraduate years at Baldwin Wallace University that the rhythms from the streets connected him to the rhythms of West Africa and 20th century contemporary music. During his graduate years at Manhattan School of Music, Wimberly broadened his musical palette studying electronic and improvised music. Music of the African Diaspora and improvisation has become key components of Wimberly鈥檚 musical excavations and explorations. These explorations connected him with master musicians from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, South America and Europe. He鈥檚 performed with funk legends George Clinton and the Parliament Funkedelic; The Boys Choir of Harlem; Paul Winter Consort; rock icons: Vernon Reid, Henry Rollins, and Blondie; R&B royalty: Dionne Warwick, Valerie Simpson, D'Angelo, Angie Stone and Alyson Williams. Wimberly has been a featured artist with Berlin鈥檚 Rundfunk Symphony, Vienna鈥檚 Tonkuntsler Symphony, Leipzig Symphony, and International Region Symphony Orchestra performing compositions of Daniel Schnyder, as well as his own orchestral compositions performed by Yakima Symphony Orchestra, and Sage City Symphony of Vermont.
As a composer and sound designer, Wimberly鈥檚 compositions have been performed by dance companies Urban Bush Women, Joffrey Ballet II, Alvin Ailey, Ailey II, Philadanco, Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, Joan Millers Dance Players, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet Noir, Alpha Omega, Purelements, and The National Song and Dance Company of Mozambique. Film scores include As An Act of Protest by Dennis Leroy Moore, and Atlantic City Lights by Brent Owens for HBO. Sound design for theatre includes Shakespeare鈥檚 Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream for the Classical Theatre of Harlem, Saint Lucy鈥檚 Eyes by Bridgette Wimberly for the Women鈥檚 Project & Cherry Lane Theatre, and Iced Out, Shackled and Chained for the National Black Theatre for which Wimberly received two Audelco nominations.
Wimberly鈥檚 percussion instruction book/DVD 鈥淕etting Started on Djembe鈥 and 鈥淕etting Started on Cajon鈥 have received outstanding reviews and is available from Hudson Music/Hal Leonard publications. His latest album, 鈥淎frofuturism鈥 on the Temple Mountain Record label (TMR) distributed on Warner Music Group/Level, can be accessed on all major streaming sources. Wimberly joined the Bennington faculty in Fall 2012, where the revolutionary spirit continues in his courses on black music by Sun Ra, Bill Dixon, and Milford Graves, and regenerates through courses on Funk, Improvisation, Composition for Dance, and global rhythms.