Will Clipman

A drummer since the age of three, Will has mastered a pan-global palette of indigenous instruments in addition to the traditional drumset. In a career that has spanned nearly every known musical genre, Will has recorded over fifty albums, including twenty-one for Canyon Records, where he is regarded as the house percussionist. A veteran of more bands than can be listed here, Will currently records and performs with the R. Carlos Nakai Quartet, the William Eaton Ensemble, the Wilde Boys (Nakai, Eaton & Clipman), Gentle Thunder, Ananeah, Quiet Fire, Sacred Clay, and the Conrads. Will’s music has been honored with two GRAMMY Nominations for Best New Age Album; a NAMA Award for Best Instrumental Album; and a TAMMIE Award for Best Drummer.A poet since the age of six, Will has published a book, Dog Light; has been included in anthologies such as Dog Music, Tumblewords, The University of Arizona Poetry Center 1960-1985, the National Poetry Competition Winners Anthology, and the Ellensburg Anthology; and has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Ironwood, Greenfield Review, Amaranth Review, Stone Drum, Louisville Review, Syracuse Review, Heron Dance, Southern Poetry Review, Rhetoric Review, and Protea Poetry Journal. His writing has been honored with the Whiffen Poetry Prize, the Academy of American Poets Margaret Sterling Award, the Tucson/Pima Arts Council Poetry Fellowship, and the Arizona Commission on the Arts Award of Merit for Poetry. His poem “The Quiet Power” is the official Dedicatory Poem of the Tucson Main Library.Will is also an accomplished maskmaker and storyteller. His solo performance, Myths & Masks, magically integrates his original mask art, mythopoetic storytelling, and multicultural music. Working both freelance and as an Artist-in-Residence with the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Will provides hands-on interdisciplinary workshops, lecture-demonstrations, and full-length residencies to elementary, middle, and high schools, community colleges, art galleries, libraries, adult prisons, juvenile detention facilities, senior centers, parks and recreation programs, and hospitals. His service to the community as an arts educator has been honored with the ACA Decade of Distinguished Service Award and a Governor’s Arts Award Nomination. Will holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Syracuse University, and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Arizona.