ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Performing a repertoire of nearly 350 works in the past eight years, Dustin Haigler is a versatile and engaged musician, as comfortable in the percussion section of an orchestra or wind ensemble as he is behind a Hammond B3 in a jazz organ trio.  Always looking to expand his musical breadth, Dr. Haigler enjoys composing and performing live electronic music and premiering new solo, chamber, and ensemble works.  A true multi-instrumentalist, Dr. Haigler plays orchestral percussion instruments and synthesizers in the classical genre, and piano, organ, vibraphone, and drum set in the jazz and pop idioms.

As a percussionist, Dr. Haigler is a strong advocate for new music, performing as a percussion fellow at the Nief-Norf Summer Festival 2019 (nnSF). In addition, he attended the 2018 Bowdoin International Music Festival and performed alongside Sō Percussion at the Gamper Festival of New Music.  During his time at Bowdoin, he also premiered multiple works, including Matt Schultheis’s A Brief Glow in the Dark for solo glockenspiel, Alex Mansour’s Toccata for piano and vibraphone, and Meng Wang’s the island for French horn, percussion, and piano.  In addition, he is a former member of the New England Philharmonic, where he performed in the world premieres of Eric Nathan’s Paestum (orchestral version), David Rakowski’s “Water” from Symphony No. 7, and Bernard Hoffer’s Three Pieces for Orchestra.  His other performances include the world premieres of Robert Fruehwald’s Dangerously Slick and Gordon Dick Goodwin’s Timeless Banks and Shoals with the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra and the United States premiere of Gregory Fritze’s Continental Concerto for bass trombone and concert band with the Boston University Wind Ensemble.  Dr. Haigler is continually searching for more efficient and expressive methods of practice and performance and has played in masterclasses for Nancy Zeltsman, Laurent Wernier, Rachel (Xi) Zhang, Theodor Milkov, Jack Van Geem, and Fernando Chaib at the 2018 Zeltsman Marimba Festival On Tour in Boston.  He is an active member of the Percussive Arts Society and has regularly attended the Percussive Arts Society International Convention and performed as a member of the All-Collegiate Percussion Ensemble at the 2016 Percussive Arts Society Missouri Day of Percussion.

Dr. Haigler enjoys playing many different instruments in the jazz idiom and has over 10 years gigging experience as a combo leader on vibraphone, Hammond B3, and keyboards.  He has played with musicians such as Anders Åstrand, Jim Pisano, Bob Lark, Michael Dease, and Blind Mississippi Morris. He received an Outstanding Soloist Award with the Southeast Studio Jazz Ensemble at the 40th Annual Elmhurst Jazz Festival.  In addition, he attended the first Jazz Organ Summit at Hope College and performed in masterclasses for Tony Monaco, Harvey Mason, and Chuck Loeb.  He is credited as keyboardist on the Southeast Studio Jazz Ensemble’s debut album, recorded at the Tracking Room in Nashville, Tennessee, which can be heard on Southeast Missouri State University’s SoundCloud page.  He strongly believes in the community ideals embodied in the jazz idiom and frequently hosts recording sessions at his home studio, welcoming local talent of all skill levels to continue the tradition of mentorship through performance.

A long-time gamer and electronic enthusiast, it was only natural for Dr. Haigler to eventually discover the world of synthesizers and become absolutely enthralled by the sonic landscapes emitted by analog and digital oscillators, filters, and amplifiers.  He remains an active musician and composer in both fixed media composition and playback and live electronic music performance with hardware synthesizers, specializing in the live performance of styles from Italo-disco and ambient to house, dubstep, and vaporwave.

Dr. Haigler graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.M. in Percussion Performance from Southeast Missouri State University under Dr. Shane Mizicko (percussion) and Dr. Jay Contrino (drumset). Subsequently, he completed his M.M. in Percussion Performance at Boston University under Mr. Samuel Z. Solomon (percussion).  He recently earned his D.M.A. in Percussion Performance with a Minor in Jazz Studies at Louisiana State University under Dr. Brett Dietz (percussion), Mr. Stanton Moore (drumset), Mr. Doug Stone (jazz organ and vibes), and Dr. Willis Delony (jazz piano). Additionally, Dr. Haigler was a percussion graduate teaching assistant during his time at LSU. He is currently pursuing his J.D. at Northeastern University.

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In his spare time, Dr. Haigler enjoys playing competitive Magic: The Gathering tournaments and working as an alpha and beta tester in the video game industry, finding and reporting software bugs before games are released to the public.