“Justin Bunting is a magician … He’s creating a great community … and it’s inspiring to see.”
- Ivan Trevino, composer/percussionist
Dr. Justin Bunting (b. 1986) is an international percussion educator, solo and chamber performer, orchestral musician, clinician, and composer. His appearances include the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the NEXUS Summer Percussion Workshop in Toronto, the Great American Brass Band Festival, and various guest artist residencies across the United States. He currently serves as Director of Instrumental Activities and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He previously held positions on the faculties of Western Colorado University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Winston-Salem State University.
Dr. Bunting performs with his wife, Cassie, as Blue Line Duo. They have performed or presented at events including the Festival Internacional de Percusión in Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia, the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) Colombia Day of Percussion in Armenia, Quindío, Colombia, the College Music Society South Central Regional Conference, and the Colorado Music Educators Association (CMEA) Conference.
Active in the Percussive Arts Society, Dr. Bunting recently concluded service as the twice-elected President of the Arkansas PAS Chapter and is a former member of the World Percussion and Collegiate Committees. Also, he has an article published on performance anxiety in Percussive Notes and is an active reviewer for the New Literature and Recordings section of that publication. In addition to performing at PASIC, he has appeared at PAS Days of Percussion in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Ohio.
As an orchestral musician, Justin performs regularly with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, Winston-Salem Symphony, and the Salisbury Symphony. He has also appeared with the North Carolina Opera Orchestra, Greensboro Opera Orchestra, Greensboro Light Opera & Song, and the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally, Justin is a founding member of the North Carolina Brass Band and Gate City Percussion. He appears on those groups' recordings First In Flight, Christmas Wrapped in Brass (NCBB) and Praxis (GCP).
Dr. Bunting’s book, Studies in Rosewood, is a collection of ten four-mallet marimba solos that allow students and teachers to develop technique, musicianship, and analysis. The book is available from C. Alan Publications and includes three solos on the Texas Prescribed Music List. Multiple other works are published by C. Alan and Bachovich Music Publications. He has also self-published a piece for world percussion ensemble, collaborated to compose another world percussion duet, and has completed various arrangements for steel band. He has been a part of commissioning, premiering, or composing more than twenty works for percussion from composers including Ivan Trevino, Evan Chapman, and Emma O’Halloran.
Justin earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Performance and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Music Theory from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a Master of Music in Percussion Performance from Belmont University, and a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance from The Ohio State University. He has studied with acclaimed percussionists Eric Willie, Neeraj Mehta, Kristopher Keeton, Christopher Norton, Chester Thompson, Todd London, Susan Powell, and Joseph Krygier.
Dr. Bunting is proudly a Malletech Performing Artist and an artist/endorser of Zildjian cymbals, Remo drumheads, and Grover Pro Percussion products.