Terry Longshore is a percussionist whose genre-crossing work exhibits the artistry of the concert stage, the spontaneity of jazz, and the energy of a rock club. Based in Ashland, Oregon, he maintains an energetic career as a performer, composer, and educator. Blue Sky Music writes, “Longshore’s understated virtuosity is percussion poetry at its best.”

Whether collaborating with artists of diverse media, composing live music for dance and theatre, or premiering works by today’s most ground-breaking composers, Terry Longshore brings a dynamic voice to every musical encounter. He is the artistic director of Knock on Wood Percussion, and the co-artistic director of several ensembles: flute and percussion duo Caballito Negro with Tessa Brinckman, percussion duo Skin & Bones with Brett Reed, and Left Edge Collective with David Bithell. He is also Principal Percussionist of the Rogue Valley Symphony and performs actively as a member of the Portland Percussion Group, Flamenco Pacifico, and Dúo Flamenco, and was a founding member of Conundrum, Sonoluminescence, and red fish blue fish. He has appeared at numerous festivals and concert series including the Bang on a Can Long Play Festival (Brooklyn) and Bang on a Can Marathons (NYC), the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series, the Britt Music & Arts Festival, Makrokosmos Project (Portland), the Transplanted Roots International Percussion Symposia (Montreal, Guanajuato, and San Diego), Musik i Väst Festival (Sweden), the Cabrillo Music Festival, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Festival of New American Music, the Northwest Percussion Festival, The Oregon Fringe Festival, Center for New Music (San Francisco), and numerous times at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC). His compositions for percussion have been performed at festivals and competitions throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Longshore is currently touring his solo program, “balance | flow – an intermedia percussion experience” featuring the music of Mark Applebaum, Erik Griswold, Yaz Lancaster, Joe W. Moore III, Emma O’Halloran, Phong Tran, Nick Zammuto, and mackxswell and Terry Longshore and with visual creations by Miles Inada, Terry Longshore, Christopher Lucas, Sean O’Skea, and Nick Zammuto.

Longshore has premiered over 100 compositions for solo percussion, percussion ensemble, chamber ensemble, symphony orchestra, and the theatre. In 2023 he premiered Teddy Abrams’ Mammoth with Yo-Yo Ma and the Louisville Orchestra in the Mammoth Caves of Kentucky. With nearly 100 tracks on Spotify and other music platforms, his recordings include multiple CDs for composer Mark Applebaum on the innova and Tzadik labels, the percussion music of Iannis Xenakis on Mode Recordings, music of percussion maverick William Kraft on Albany, and Michael Gordon’s Natural History on Cantaloupe Music. He also champions new solo and chamber works for percussion by commissioning, organizing, and participating in consortium commissions from a diverse body of composers. His composition Trap Hat with his son, mackxswell, is featured as the theme music to Jefferson Public Radio’s The Jefferson Exchange. Terry Longshore is a Marimba One Vibe Artist, and an Artist Endorser for Black Swamp Percussion, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets, Remo Drumheads, Gon Bops Percussion, and Beato Bags.

As Professor of Music, Artist in Residence, and Director of Percussion Studies at Southern Oregon University, he directs Left Edge Percussion and the SOU Percussion Ensemble and in addition to the the percussion curriculum has taught courses including Recreational & Empowerment Drumming, Business of Music, Art & Music of the 20th Century to Present, and Music of the World. He is a trained HealthRHYTHMS facilitator, and has facilitated Recreational & Empowerment Drumming workshops and classes for hundreds of participants, including at the Interlochen Arts Academy and Portland Summer Percussion Academy.

Terry Longshore holds bachelor’s degrees from the California State University at Fresno (Business Administration – Computer Applications and Systems) and Sacramento (Music – Percussion Performance) and master’s and doctoral degrees in Contemporary Music Performance from the University of California, San Diego. His education includes significant study of Spanish flamenco and the classical music of India, including study at the Ali Akbar College of Music. His teachers include Steven Schick, Daniel Kennedy, Ronald Holloway, David Glyde, Chuck Flores, Swapan Chaudhuri, and Kartik Seshadri. He enjoys hiking, fly fishing, cycling, and especially traveling the world with his wife Jennifer and hanging out with his children, Madeleine and Maxwell.