Examining Underutilized Keyboard Percussion Instruments in Contemporary Music Through Collaboration: Commissioning Three New Works for Unaccompanied and Accompanied Xylophone and Glockenspiel

Noting a lack of solo repertoire for two popular keyboard percussion instruments, the glockenspiel and xylophone, I set out to bring the two instruments up to a level where both could be recognized as vehicles for solo performance. I decided to collaborate with three composers who are not percussionists: Nick Bentz (fitful machinery for solo glockenspiel and fixed media), Ashlee Busch (Elements for solo xylophone and crotales), and Hunter Long (We’ve always had time on our side for solo xylophone and percussion ensemble). By collaborating with these three young composers, I hope to elevate the stature of these underutilized percussion instruments. This document provides information about each composer, the commissioning process, and examinations of each work. In addition, I will discuss some of the challenges of working with non-percussionist composers, issues on performance practice, and my solutions to those challenges.