Description:
Edmund L. (Ed) Eliason, III - Percussionist, Music Educator & Drum Circle Facilitator
 
Performing Experience:  Ed has been a drummer/percussionist since he began taking lessons in the fourth grade (January, 1954).  He progressed through band and orchestra programs from elementary school through college, and began working as a part-time professional musician while still in high school.  As a college student, Ed spent vacations and summers working and touring with a variety of professional musical acts, performing throughout the northeast, which included resorts in the Catskills, the Poconos and the New Jersey seashore.  He continued performing a wide variety of musical styles in his native Philadelphia area, before relocating to Nashville, Tennessee in the early 1970s, where he performed with swing, pop and country show bands, and as a demo-session drummer for numerous singer/songwriters.  Upon moving to Melbourne (Florida) in 1980, he immediately began working with some of central Florida’s most popular dance and show bands, as well as the Melbourne Municipal Band and their 18-piece Swingtime Dance Band.  He has also performed with the Community Band of Brevard, the Space Coast Philharmonic (now Pops), and the Orlando Opera Company.  Ed has been an active member of the Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse Orchestra since 2002.
 
Teaching Background:  Ed’s passion for percussion eventually led to his mentoring and teaching younger players.  He has taught privately for more than 35 years.   As a BCA Artist in Residence, he has taught traditional and world percussion at Palm Bay, University Park and Columbia Elementary Schools, and at two Summer Arts Camps co-sponsored by BCA and Brevard Parks & Recreation. In August of 2004, Ed created The Drum Club, an elementary school percussion education program under the auspices of the Brevard County School Board's School Age Child Care Program. He owns and operates Good2Groove Studios in Merritt Island, where he and his staff maintain a roster of some 50 private students ages six to adult.  The recently expanded studio utilizes the latest technology and electronic teaching aids, as well as the county’s largest inventory of world percussion instruments, to teach both private lessons and ensemble classes.  As a clinician, Ed has coached numerous middle and high school percussion sections.    During calendar years 2007 and 2008, Ed taught percussion to more than 2,000 students, including some 1,200-plus “at-risk” youth. 

Programs & Specialties:  As a teaching artist, Ed divides his time among the areas of private and group lessons, classroom teaching and percussion clinics, and as a facilitator for “Group Empowerment Drumming” programs.  He performs regularly as a drummer and percussionist in a wide variety of musical settings.  He also facilitates Recreational Drum Circles at many community events.  Ed is a member of the Drum Circle Facilitator’s Guild, The Percussive Arts Society, and is one of 1,300 Trained HealthRHYTHMS® Facilitators, who use this cutting-edge drumming protocol to achieve a variety of health and wellness outcomes in 19 countries.

Education:  Ed holds a B.A. Degree in Business Administration (major in Marketing) from Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA, and a Diploma in Advertising & Journalism from Philadelphia's Charles Morris Price School.  His musical studies include private lessons and percussion section training in a variety of wind ensembles, marching and concert bands, jazz bands and symphonic orchestras.  His "on-the-job" training has included virtually every form of popular and classical music, jazz and the musical theatre, spanning more than five decades.

   
Work History:  Ed spent more than 35 years in corporate sales and marketing with a number of Fortune 500 companies, including Polaroid Corp., Aetna Life & Casualty and CertainTeed Corp, while pursuing music as a sideline business.  His busy schedule never afforded him enough time for the things he enjoyed most, so in the summer of 2001 he began the transition from businessman to full-time musician and music educator.  As a result, his days and most evenings are now filled with musical activities which touch the lives of thousands of people each year.  His marketing expertise is devoted solely to promoting the performing arts through a number of independent projects with various arts organizations.  His most recent ventures include his Good2Groove Studios (traditional music instruction) and “Rhythm Remedies” (Group Empowerment Drumming programs).