Victor LaBozzetta III is a vibrant and charismatic percussionist, composer, and theorist from New York.
A consistently engaging percussionist, Victor has performed for (and/or with) numerous composers and performers, including Stuart Saunders Smith, Anders Åstrand, George Lewis, Doug Perkins, Lesley Flanigan, Doug O’Connor, Christopher Deane, James Carter, and Se-Mi Hwang. He has also premiered chamber works by Matt Curlee and John Psathas. And upon their releases, he will appear on two Eastman Wind Ensemble recordings and one Eastman Percussion Ensemble recording.
Over the past two years, Victor has become particularly active as a composer, writing several new works for a variety of ensembles. In November 2017, the Eastman Percussion Ensemble premiered his percussion octet, “The Feeling of Coming Home,” at their PASIC 2017 IPEC Showcase Concert. The overwhelmingly positive reception of its premiere has led to a sharp growth in commissions, leading already to new works for Up/Down Percussion, the University of North Florida Percussion Ensemble, Colleen Bernstein, Brant Blackard, and Michael Burritt.
Victor also co-authored a book with his drum set teacher, Justin Gallo, called A Practical Approach to Understanding Time Signatures. With both easy and difficult exercises across seven different time signatures, the book is designed for musicians of any age.
A Jack Kent Cooke College Scholar, Victor completed his undergraduate studies in Percussion Performance and Music Theory at the Eastman School of Music, studying primarily with Michael Burritt, Rich Thompson, and Henry Klumpenhouwer. Now, as a Jack Kent Cooke Continuing Graduate Scholar, he is pursuing his M.M. in Composition at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University with Felipe Lara. He is currently working on several projects, including a marimba solo, a percussion suite, and a vibraphone / trumpet duo.