Payton MacDonald is a percussionist who works across a wide range of musical disciplines. He was a founding member of Alarm Will Sound, a new-music chamber orchestra. Alarm Will Sound is currently regarded as one of the foremost new music ensembles in the country, with multiple recordings and performances all over the globe. He was with Alarm Will Sound from 2001 to 2014, and during that time he made five recordings with them on the Nonesuch and Cantaloupe labels. He has also appeared as a soloist in many countries, performed with Present Music and Verederos flute and percussion duo, and toured Japan with Keiko Abe and the Galaxy percussion group. He has appeared on two PASIC Showcase Concerts and has performed, composed for, and recorded with the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble.
Payton has dedicated much of his career to expanding the art of marimba playing. To that end he has commissioned many works from other composers, including Charles Wuorinen, Robert Morris, Akshaya Tucker, Caleb Burhans, Don Freund, Elliott Sharp, David Saperstein, Michael Udow, Stuart Saunders Smith, Gene Pritsker, and many others. Payton is also one of the few marimbists in the world who is a dedicated improviser. He frequently improvises entire performances, and works with other notable improvisers, including Erin Rogers, Weasel Walter, Aakash Mittal, Steven Crammer, Peter Evans, Tim Feeney, Todd Sickafoose, James Ilgenfritz, Ras Moshe, and many others. MacDonald has released over 100 recordings. He currently leads the avant-jazz band Void Patrol, with Billy Martin, Colin Stetson, and Elliott Sharp.
Payton also completed his Sonic Divide project, a massive interdisciplinary project that brought together percussion, singing, filmmaking, and ultra-distance mountain biking. For that project he commissioned 30 composers, many of whom wrote pieces for percussion. He is currently working on his Sonic Peaks project, in which he’s hiking the 147 highest peaks in the Northeast U.S. and creating graphic scores reflecting each hike.
Payton studied percussion at the Eastman School of Music (DMA, MM, and Performer’s Certificate) with John Beck, and the University of Michigan (BFA) with Michael Udow. He also learned percussion from Pandit Sharda Sahai, Bob Becker, Julie Spencer, John Alfieri, and Richard Landauer. He is a Full Professor in the Music Department at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey, USA. .
Payton MacDonald 