“Percussionist Colleen Bernstein rendered the sound of crackling ice, rockfalls, the knock of a woodpecker, the swish of grass in tall meadows, and hoof beats of a running deer. Some tones were bright and percussive as water over rocks, while the shimmering of chimes she let the wind play was soft and meditative as the trees’ filtered light.”
Image by Damaride.
Bio
Colleen Bernstein is an award-winning percussionist recognized for her precise execution of contemporary music and narrative works. Lauded as “one of the most compelling young percussionists” by renowned performer and conductor Steven Schick, she is a performer of contemporary solo, chamber, theater, and orchestral music, as well as a dedicated teacher, creative collaborator, and concert producer.
Based in NYC, Colleen has played on three continents, everywhere from Carnegie Hall to modern art galleries, Broadway theaters, and natural spaces like Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park. Colleen originated the timpani/percussion chair for the Avatar: The Last Airbender concert tour, playing across North America from August-December 2024, and she is a percussionist for the Rockettes’ Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. Colleen previously held the percussion chair for the Broadway revival of Spamalot (Broadway, St. James Theater). She has collaborated with notable artists including Béla Fleck, Tania León, Judy Collins, Concertgebouw Orchestra Camerata, American Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Silkroad Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, Balla Kouyaté, and Sandbox Percussion.
As a soloist, Colleen has performed with Albany Symphony, presented sets at MATA Festival, New Music Gathering, World Vibes Congress, Sō Percussion Brooklyn Bound Marathon, and Oh My Ears Festival, and won prizes at multiple competitions, including the Universal Marimba Competition. Colleen is a member of the new-music septet American Wild Ensemble and the interdisciplinary organization Creative Leaps International, as well as a collaborator with chamber ensembles including Harlem Chamber Players, Talea Ensemble, and Ensemble IPSE. Colleen has previously performed on multiple award-winning Broadway productions, including The Music Man, The Phantom of the Opera, Six, Some Like it Hot, The Great Gatsby, and A Sign of the Times (Off-Bway).
Colleen is on faculty at William Paterson University and Hunter College, where she teaches courses in the music education department, percussion ensemble, and applied lessons. She has presented recitals, clinics, and masterclasses at educational institutions across the United States. Previously, Colleen served as Director of Percussion for the New Jersey Youth Symphony organization, Community Engagement Coordinator for the Silkroad Ensemble’s annual Global Musician Workshop, and Artistic Collaborator at the Strong National Museum of Play, where she curated and presented a series of educational programs connecting contemporary music to the museum’s exhibits through commissions, performances, and hands-on activities.
From 2018-2021, Colleen founded and produced Strength & Sensitivity, a multimedia performance project that blends percussion music and text to catalyze dialogue about gender equality. Through this project, she commissioned and adapted works by prominent composers including Yvette Janine Jackson and Angélica Negrón, presented evening-length productions in Boston, Chicago, and Ann Arbor, MI, and performed recitals at the International Alliance of Women in Music Conference and the University of Michigan Symposium on Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct.
Colleen graduated from the Eastman School of Music with degrees in Percussion Performance and Music Education, as well as the Catherine Filene Shouse Arts Leadership Certificate and the prestigious Performer's Certificate. She received two Master's degrees in Percussion Performance and Chamber Music at the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the Global Leaders Institute. Her principal teachers include Richard Albagli, Mark Foster, Michael Burritt, and Joseph Gramley. She is an artist endorser for Malletech and Black Swamp Percussion.
“Colleen gave one of the best performances of my 1988 piece, ‘from my little island,’ that it has ever received in its 30-plus year history. Colleen mastered every detail of this 22 minute work. She played the theme and each of the variations at perfect tempi, with total control of both technical and artistic/expressive aspects of the work. It was so heart-felt and genuine. And I never knew Colleen until she sent me a beautifully done audio/video production of the work in 2018. I was stunned that anyone, be they student or world-class professional could render such an interpretation, yet Colleen did. One of the most gratifying experiences for any composer is to have a performer master every aspect of one’s music without knowing them or advising them. Colleen Bernstein did this with ‘from my little island,’ and I was blown away with what she did with my music.”
