The World Percussion Group (WPG)

Huxtable, Jason ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7596-3122 and Palmer, Timothy (2016) The World Percussion Group (WPG). Online.

Abstract

The World Percussion Group (WPG) is an ensemble devised and developed by Jason Huxtable & Timothy Palmer (Maraca2 Percussion Duo) to address the professional development needs of young professional percussionists around the world. Research process: The WPG’s first tour took place in 2016 and the ensemble has, over the course of four previous incarnations, provided opportunities for 45 young performers from 18 different countries, engaging percussion students, staff and audiences at 27 leading Higher Education Institutions. In addition to the direct contact with percussive communities, the WPG social media video output has achieved over one million views through partnership with industry sponsors and media broadcasters. Within this research an Impact Case Study is conducted with the intention of assessing the impact the WPG has made and the extent to which the original ‘Rationale’ for the project has been achieved. A Thematic Analysis of previous member’s Survey response provides the qualitative data, developing identity of themes which are then positioned within a ‘Thematic Map’ image. Research insights: Thematic Analysis of survey data reveals that the WPG is a significant and prestigious project which provides tour members an opportunity to develop professionally and personally through a challenging, reallife tour experience. Outcomes of the project relate to both the individual members and the percussion community more broadly with the benefits of ‘Cultural Sharing’ straddling these two domains. The success of previous projects has fed back into the ‘Prestige’ of the group, creating a positive feedback loop for future participants. This research shows that the WPG project is not only beneficial to individual members but to the Percussion Community more widely. Dissemination: Media outputs produced by the WPG have been viewed over 1,000,000 times.

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