The percussion music of Marc Mellits: 1994-2016

Marc Mellits (b. 1966) is considered a member from the post-minimalist generation of composers, who took a fresh approach to the sounds of the 1960s minimalists. Mellits developed a style that merged his love for classical music and rock music. His output of compositions is generous, and performances of his music are steadily gaining prominence in the music community. His chamber works that include percussion and his stand-alone percussion works are being programmed regularly at both professional and educational levels. Despite these frequent performances, I have found that there is a lack of scholarly research about him and his music, especially his music for percussion. This document provides an overview of Mellits's background and compositional style with a detailed view of the following works for percussion: Red (2008), Stick (2010), Gravity (2013), and Zodiac (2016). General background information, music analysis, and performance suggestions are provided for each of the compositions. The purpose of this document is to serve as a reference for those seeking more information about Marc Mellits and his works for percussion.