From Purchase College…
Shawn Trail, of Beacon, N.Y., a recent Purchase College master’s degree recipient has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Denmark where he will conduct doctoral research at the University of Aalborg in Copenhagen. Mr. Trail will be based at the Medialogy Institute where he will engage in independent research to design and develop an electro-acoustic, midi-equipped xylophone. “This new instrument,” he says “will revolutionize the role of the xylophone’s performance by solving pervasive limitations.”
One of Mr. Trail’s goals “is to establish an intercultural consortium of xylophone masters of various styles to commission new repertoire for the proposed new instrument.” He will “continue producing, performing, promoting, and teaching electro-music from the platform of the new instrument emphasizing the importance of a cultural continuum.”
Over the years Mr. Trail has appeared at New York’s most important venues for creative and experimental music: Tonic, Joe’s Pub, the Knitting Factory, Zebulon and others. He has also been featured by CNN, the New York Times, the Village Voice, HBO and appeared on the cover of Percussive Notes magazine.
At Purchase he was an instructor and founder of the Studio Composition and Production Ensemble, and an instructor of the West African Percussion Ensemble.
He has also performed and studied abroad in Ontario, Canada, Ghana, West Africa, and Western Europe.
The Fulbright program has had over 300,000 participants since its inception more than 60 years ago. Many Fulbright alumni have gone on to become heads of state, ambassadors, CEO’s, artists, professors and teachers.
