The New York Percussion Trio was a three-member musical group consisting of two percussionists and one pianist, active in the New York City area from the early 1950s until the mid-1970s. The group was originally formed in 1954 as the Dance-Percussion Trio, to accompany performances by the modern dancer

Daniel Nagrin Daniel Nagrin (May 22, 1917 – December 29, 2008) was an American modern dancer, choreographer, teacher, and author. He was born in New York City. Nagrin studied with Martha Graham, Anna Sokolow, Hanya Holm, Bill Matons and Helen Tamiris whom ...

; Nagrin was a member of the trio along with the pianist David Shapiro and the percussionist Ronald Gould. The group toured the United States in June and July 1954. Following this tour, the Dance-Percussion Trio disbanded and the musicians added a second percussionist, Arnold Goldberg, thus forming a trio of two percussionists and a pianist. Shapiro was later replaced by Rolf Barnes, though he later rejoined the group. The trio commissioned a number of new works from contemporary composers, including

Harold Farberman Harold Farberman (November 2, 1929 – November 24, 2018) was an American conductor, composer and percussionist. Biography Farberman studied percussion at Juilliard, and composition at the New England Conservatory and at Tanglewood with Aaro ...

(''Variations for Percussion With Piano'', 1954), Halim El-Dabh (''Hindi-Yaat no. 1'' and ''Tabla-Tahmeel no. 1'', both 1959, and ''Tabla-Dance'', 1961), and Gitta Steiner (''Trio'', 1969). They were one of the first American percussion ensembles to utilize traditional percussion instruments from India (including tabla and

mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is the ...

), which Gould brought back following a 1959 tour of that nation with The Little Orchestra Society of New York. The group's primary focus was presenting percussion music to young people (ranging in age from kindergarten to the college level), with most of their performances arranged by the Young Audiences, Inc. organization of New York. Through their performances across the United States (3,000 in all), the group did much to promote percussion music to the general public. They released an LP recording, entitled ''Holidays for Percussion'' (Vox, 1958), and a film, ''Percussion, the Pulse of Music'' (produced by Arts and Audiences, Inc., for the Educational Television and Radio Center, 1957), and appeared on the '' I've Got a Secret'' television program, hosted by Steve Allen, on January 24, 1966, as well as several other television programs, particularly those for children. In addition to their work with the trio, Goldberg and Gould served for many years as members of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and the orchestras of the

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...

Dance Company and

Joffrey Ballet The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance companies and training institutions in the world today. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at Lyric O ...

; Gould retired from his post with the New York City Ballet Orchestra in 2005 and Goldberg remains with the orchestra as timpanist and orchestra manager. Shapiro was also active as a pianist, orchestra conductor, and opera producer in South Korea, Hong Kong, and the United States. In the 1960s, a Boston, Massachusetts-based group called the New Boston Percussion Ensemble, also comprising two percussionists (James Latimer and Everett Beale) and a pianist (Allen Barker), was formed. This group also performed programs for the Young Audiences organization and performed some of the same repertoire as the New York Percussion Trio.

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Further reading