Vater is very excited to welcome Diane Downs and The Lousiville Leopard Percussionists to the Vater Artist Family.
The Louisville Leopard Percussionists are a performing ensemble
comprised of 60+ student musicians ages 7-12, who reside in 20 different
Louisville zip codes and attend 27 different schools in and around Louisville,
Kentucky. Diane Downs created The Fabulous Leopard Percussionists in November 1993. After 10 years, the
group became a non-profit community based organization and was renamed to the
Louisville Leopard Percussionists.
Since then, the Leopards have performed throughout Louisville and Kentucky at events including the
Kentucky Derby Festival, at University
of Louisville sporting events, with the rock band My Morning Jacket, for
the U.S. Women's World Cup Champion Soccer Team, for the International Jump Rope
Championship Team, at Morehead State
University, Eastern Kentucky
University, and with the Louisville Orchestra.
On the national level, Downs's students have performed at the Atlanta International Band &
Orchestra Convention, the Indiana, Kentucky and Florida State Music Educator's conventions, WGI
Percussion Finals in Dayton,
The Midwest Clinic in Chicago, the International
Association of Jazz Educators Conferences in Chicago, New Orleans and New York City, the American Orff-Schulwerk
Association National Conference, the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in Washington, DC, at the Jazz
Educator's Network Convention in New Orleans and in Louisville, and 4 times at
the Percussive Arts Society International
Convention.
During these performances, the Leopards have had the privilege of performing
with some of the world's leading percussionists including Jerry Steinholtz,
Victor Mendoza, Ndugu Chancler, Louie Bellson, Joe Morello, Brad Dutz, Emil
Richards, Zoro, and Dave Samuels. They have also performed for such luminaries
as Coretta Scott King, Evelyn Glennie, and Wynton Marsalis.
The
Leopards were also featured in an HBO special, "The Leopards Take Manhattan: The
Little Band That Roared" as part of the acclaimed "Music In Me" series. The
documentary follows the Leopards to New York City to perform before the Chick
Corea Trio (Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, and Eddie Gomez) at the 2006 IAJE
Convention. The Leopards Take Manhattan:
The Little Band that Roared - click on SCHEDULE and WATCH VIDEO. - http://www.hbofamily.com/programs/music-in-me-leopards-take-manhattan.html
For more info on Diane Downs and The Louisville Leopard Percussionists, please visit www.louisvilleleopardpercussionists.com