The Liquidrum Competition

Saturday, October 24, Jones Concert Hall, Baylor University, Waco, TX

Divisions

  • Collegiate Solo
  • Collegiate Orchestral (2026 = Timpani)
  • High School Solo

Preliminary Round - Video Only

Submission deadline - Friday, October 3, 12PM (noon)

  • Video submission via unlisted YouTube link
  • Submit one video/link that contains all preliminary performance(s)
  • Video/audio should be of the highest quality possible given your resources and accessibility to A/V gear
  • All preliminary round applicants will receive feedback and commentary on their performances

Procedures and Guidelines

General

  • All divisions require at $40 registration fee - for students wishing to compete in both collegiate division (solo and orchestra), combo registration is $65
  • Submit registration payment here:
  • After submitting payment, send link to unlisted YouTube video and scanned copies of your score(s) to info@liquidrum.com (scanned scores not required for Collegiate Orchestral Division)
  • YouTube video title should be LAST NAME_FIRST NAME_DIVISION (ex. Claves_Johnny_Collegiate Solo)
  • Payment and video/score submission must be received by Friday, October 3 at 12PM (noon)
  • All contestants must be current full-time students in either a college/university/conservatory or high school
  • Three contestants from each division will advance from the preliminary video round to the final live round

Collegiate Solo Division

  • Solo repertoire of your choice
  • No instrument or repertoire restrictions (percussion only obvs)
  • 8-12 minutes of music total
  • Cuts are acceptable in order to fit time limit, please do so with care for the integrity of the music
  • If submitting multiple pieces, performances may be recorded separately but stitched together into one single video for YouTube upload

Collegiate Orchestral (Timpani - record excerpts in order listed below in one continuous take)

  • Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 4 (mvmt 1, 3 mm before letter T to 2 mm before letter V)
  • Beethoven - Symphony No. 1 (Menuetto, mvmt 3, 1 m before letter A to m 79)
  • Mozart - Symphony No. 39 (mvmt 1, opening to m 21, minimize bars of rest)
  • Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra (mvmt 4, mm 42-50)
  • Brahms - Symphony No. 1 (mvmt 4, 9 mm after letter Q to end)
  • *Orchestral contestants do not need to submit scanned copies of scores/excerpts

High School Solo Division

  • Solo repertoire of your choice
  • No instrument or repertoire restrictions (percussion only obvs)
  • 7-10 minutes of music total
  • Cuts are acceptable in order to fit time limit, please do so with care for the integrity of the music
  • If submitting multiple pieces, performances may be recorded separately but stitched together into one single video for YouTube upload

Final Round - Live

Saturday, October 24, 2026, Jones Concert Hall, Baylor University, Waco, TX

  • Three contestants in each division from the preliminary video round will advance to the final live round
  • Finalists will be announced the week of October 5
  • Finalists are responsible for providing their own travel and lodging
  • The final round is free and open to the public for audience viewing

General

  • Scanned copies of all pieces must be sent, in advance, to info@liquidrum.com (scanned scores not required for Collegiate Orchestral Division)
  • Special instrument or gear requests (multi percussion, speakers, etc), if needed, must be sent to info@liquidrum one week prior to the final round performance
  • Baylor instruments provided include the following:
    • Adams Philharmonic Classic Timpani (set of 4)
    • Adams 5.0 Alpha Series Marimba
    • Adams Alpha Series Vibraphone
    • Other instruments/gear, as requested, based on final round repertoire

Collegiate Solo Division

  • Solo repertoire of your choice
  • No instrument or repertoire restrictions (percussion only obvs)
  • 12-16 minutes of music total
  • Cuts are acceptable in order to fit time limit, please do so with care for the integrity of the music

Collegiate Orchestral (Timpani)

  • All five preliminary round excerpts plus the following
  • Martin - Concerto for Seven Winds, Timpani, Percussion, and Strings (5 mm before 19 through 7 mm after 22)
  • Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra (mvmt 5, m 550 to end)
  • Antonio - Etude 2 from 12 Constructions for Timpani (music will be provided to finalists)

High School Solo Division

  • Solo repertoire of your choice
  • No instrument or repertoire restrictions (percussion only obvs)
  • 10-12 minutes of music total
  • Cuts are acceptable in order to fit time limit, please do so with care for the integrity of the music

Prizes

Prizes for the final round contestants are generously provided by the following partners:

Judges

BRIAN JONES - Final round guest judge

Brian Jones has been principal timpanist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 2011. Prior to his appointment, he served as principal timpanist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Jones has been a guest principal timpanist and/or percussionist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Seoul Philharmonic, the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival Orchestra and the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra.

He has premiered timpani concerti with the University of Michigan Percussion Ensemble, the Boulder Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony and the Dallas Symphony. He has also premiered and/or recorded solo percussion works with the New World Symphony (where he was a concerto prize winner), as well as chamber works with New Music Detroit, the Percussion Quartet from Tanglewood, the SouthBeat Percussion
Ensemble, the Atmos Percussion Ensemble and the Empire Brass Quintet.

Jones currently serves as adjunct associate professor at SMU. Previously, he was adjunct associate professor of percussion at The University of Michigan for 10 years, teaching two sections of orchestral repertoire as well as maintaining a private studio. His former students currently occupy positions in leading orchestras and universities around the world. He was a featured clinician at the 2004 and 2016 Percussive Arts Society International Conventions, and has given presentations and masterclasses throughout the United States, Korea and Japan.

As an undergraduate at the University of North Texas, Jones was a member of the Grammy-nominated University of North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band on both drum set and bass trombone in consecutive semesters, and a Jack DeJohnette drum set solo he transcribed was published internationally by the Percussive Arts Society. After earning his master’s degree as a full fellowship student and garnering a Performer’s Certificate at Indiana University, Jones completed his schooling with a Professional Studies Certificate at Temple University under the tutelage of Alan Abel.

TODD MEEHAN - preliminary and final round judge

TODD MEEHAN is Professor of Percussion and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at the Baylor University School of Music. He was a founding member of So Percussion and the Meehan/ Perkins Duo and has performed extensively throughout the world. As a chamber musician and soloist, Todd has premiered more than 50 new works for percussion and has released recordings on Bridge, Cantaloupe, New World, Albany, Physical Editions, and Centaur Records.

As an orchestral musician, Todd has performed with the Waco Symphony Orchestra, Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra, Austin Symphony Orchestra, and is an alumnus of the Pacific Music Festival and the Round Top International Festival Institute, where he now serves on the faculty each summer. He is the founder of Liquidrum, a percussion company focused on performance, pedagogy, and percussion lifestyle. Todd is the author/composer of Percussion Accessories Vol. 1 — Method for Tambourine and Triangle and is the creator of the popular Liquidrum Practice Journal. Todd earned his Doctor of Musical Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees from the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin and his Master of Music degree from Yale University. He performs on Pearl Drums and Adams Musical Instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Freer Percussion, Remo drumheads, Black Swamp accessories, and Beetle Percussion products.

ARLO SHULTIS - preliminary and final round judge

Hailed an “excellent timpanist” by the Baltimore Sun, Arlo Shultis holds a wide range of orchestral experience, and has worked closely with many prominent conductors. For the past five years, Arlo has served as principal timpanist/percussionist of the Marlboro Music Festival Orchestra, conducted by Leon Fleischer and Mitsuko Uchida. Shultis has frequently performed as Principal Timpanist of the Yale Philharmonia under the direction of Peter Oundjian. As Principal Timpanist of the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, Arlo has recorded the music of Aaron Kernis under the baton of Marin Alsop and Leonard Slatkin. Other conductors that Arlo has shared the stage with include Ludovic Marlot, David Robertson, Markus Stenz, and Hugh Wolf.

A versatile performer, Arlo plays comfortably as a chamber musician and solo percussionist, just as he does an orchestral timpanist and percussionist. Notable solo performances include David Lang’s “The Anvil Chorus,” and Iannis Xenakis’ “Psappha,” at the Yale School of Music. As a member of the Yale Percussion Group, Shultis has performed Steven Mackey’s “It Is Time,” a 40 minute percussion quartet exploring the complexity and inevitability of “time,”commissioned by So Percussion. As a former member of the Michigan Percussion Quartet, Arlo was invited to perform a concert at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa. As part of this trip, the quartet traveled to several local schools to perform interactive masterclasses with students in the greater Cape Town area.

In 2014, Arlo recorded the Grammy nominated “L’Orestie d’Eschyle,” by Darius Milhaud, as a member of the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra and Percussion Ensemble. Shultis was the winner of the University of Michigan Symphony Band Concerto Competition in 2014, in which he performed Michael Daugherty’s “Raise the Roof” for Solo Timpani and Wind Ensemble, the performance of which can be found on YouTube. Arlo is on the percussion faculty of the Baylor University School of Music as Lecturer of Percussion.

A Message from the Host - Todd Meehan

Does the percussion world need another competition? Probably not. But as I've journeyed deeper into my teaching career, I've grown admittedly fond of what the act of "competition" can offer to those who choose to participate, particularly those in the early, formative stages of their musician-hood. As a native Texan, I grew up on Texas-sized music competitions, from marching band to All-State to state solo & ensemble. So much of my early musical and percussive upbringing was focused on these specific anchor points during the academic year that I developed a bit of competition-fatigue by the time I graduated from high school. When I left for music study at the college level I was all competitioned out. I wanted to learn, develop, and explore without the expectation of winning and losing. Music, for me, wasn't a battle but a simple pursuit of creativity. And I still feel that way. 

But as I continue the great privilege of teaching young, aspiring percussionists at the Baylor School of Music, I have found such beauty in directing the creation and formation of a musical/creative project towards a culminating end—from recitals to off-campus shows...and yes, sometimes in the form of a competition. I have witnessed the tangible focus this pursuit has instilled in my students who have walked down this path and how that focus has yielded deeper levels of learning and commitment than might otherwise have manifested.

The Liquidrum Competition aims to create an opportunity for students to explore their creativity and direct their musical energies towards a healthy, supportive performance outcome. The repertoire choice in the two solo divisions is yours. What you choose to play is an expression of who you are. It's part of your artistic statement. And regardless of division, every preliminary round contestant will receive rich feedback on their video submissions. Whether you advance to the final round or not, my hope is that you walk away from this experience with a deeper understanding of yourself, your music-making, and ultimately what you are capable of. Good luck to everyone who will participate in the Liquidrum Competition in the years to come!