Andrew McAfee is an active percussionist, composer, and educator. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Percussion Performance from California State University Long Beach where he studied with Dr. Michael Carney, Dr. Dave Gerhart, Raynor Carroll, and Brad Dutz; and a Master’s Degree in Percussion from Indiana University where he studied with Michael Spiro, Steve Houghton, and Kevin Bobo.
Throughout his career, Andrew has performed both solo and ensemble music in numerous venues across the country, including the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles and Carnegie Hall in New York. His performance career started when he joined the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets as a snare drummer in 2003. During his membership, the corps won the Best Percussion Caption Award twice and the DCI Open Class World Championship in 2008. The following year, he had the honor of performing with the Pulse Percussion Ensemble in the 2009 WGI World Class Finals. As a student, Andrew received multiple awards and performance based scholarships. His passion and dedication as a marimba soloist were on display when he performed the world premier of Nathan Daughtrey’s Halcyon Days with the CSULB Percussion Ensemble. He also had the distinguished honor of receiving the 2012 award for Outstanding Achievements in the area of Percussion Performance at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music. While studying at the Jacobs School of Music, Andrew recorded and performed as the bongocero of the Latin Jazz Collective.
Andrew currently lives in Long Beach, CA where he works as a freelance performer and educator.