Sophomore music performance major Lyndon Wilson and senior music education major Alex Sharkey took top honors at the Missouri Percussive Arts Society College Marimba Competition April 13, 2024, in Columbia, Missouri.

Wilson and Sharkey are both students of Dr. Scott Cameron, associate professor in the Department of Music.

“Several MSU students have competed over the past several years, but Lyndon is the first student to take first place,” Cameron said.

Drawn to percussion from an early age

Wilson and Sharkey both started playing musical instruments as young children.

“I was drawn to percussion because I, like most people, enjoyed hitting things as a small child,” said Sharkey, who plans to be a band director. “I was drawn to the marimba specifically because, in my opinion, it has the most engaging and musically challenging literature of any instrument in the percussion family.”

In addition to being able to play all the percussion instruments, Sharkey is also a classically trained pianist.

Wilson, who plans to earn a Ph.D. in music performance and teach at the university level, was heavily influenced by his family to play percussion instruments.

“Both of my parents were percussionists and so was my oldest brother,” he explained. “However, in college my passion for this instrument family and performing has grown astronomically.”

(Hours of) practice makes perfect

Wilson and Sharkey said they practice anywhere from three to four hours nearly every day.

“Students at this level are highly motivated and typically have all the notes of their competition piece worked out,” Cameron said. “My job is to work with them on expression, pacing, phrasing, emotional content and other nuances.”

And while practice remained an important part of preparing for the competition, Wilson took a more strategic path to prepare mentally.

“Preparation for the competition was basically just continually playing and refining my music,” Wilson said. “I also looked up the adjudicators of the competition in order to figure out who exactly would be watching and critiquing me.”

Wilson admitted to experiencing a few jitters, but he said he allowed the music to help him overcome his fears.

“While competing I was a little nervous because I obviously didn’t want to mess up in front of the crowd,” he said. “However, I maintained my cool because I just absolutely loved the piece I was performing, and I love the act of sharing music with other people.”

“I just kept telling myself that no matter what it would be a fun and good experience,” he added.

Sharkey had to balance his practice time for the competition with his schedule as a student teacher.

“I don’t get to play nearly as much as I would like to anymore, but I’ve worked to make time for myself to meaningfully practice when the opportunities arise,” Sharkey said.

Because the competition was based on video submissions, Sharkey described his experience as “pretty smooth.”

“Some people spend countless hours trying to get the perfect recording to submit for competitions, but that process just stresses me out,” Sharkey said. “I also don’t feel like it provides an accurate representation of an in-person performance, so I ended up just going with the very first recording I made.”

“I just focused on conveying my own musicianship in the most authentic way possible through this performance and putting it out into the world,” he continued. “If the judges appreciate it, awesome. If not, then there’s not much I can do about it. Luckily in this case the judges enjoyed my performance!”

Creating meaningful music experiences

Sharkey stressed how much authenticity factors into his performance approach.

“I just focus on conveying my musical intent and being present in the moment of the performance rather than directing my thoughts towards how the audience is perceiving me. I’ve found this creates much more meaningful musical experiences for all parties involved,” Sharkey said.

This approach to musical performance translates to his vision of being a successful band director.

“To me, that means continuously and consciously making an effort to positively impact students’ social, emotional, intellectual and musical development,” Sharkey said.

Sharkey and Wilson expressed appreciation for Cameron’s guidance and leadership.

“Dr. Cameron has been one of my biggest champions since entering the music department at MSU,” Sharkey said. “I came in with the intent of pursuing a career in music, but Dr. Cameron was the person that convinced me music was a field I could genuinely excel in.”

“Dr Cameron has played an integral role in my time at the department of music,” Wilson said. “He taught me pretty much everything that I know about keyboard instruments like the marimba, [and] he has pushed me to become to best performer that I can be.”

“There were times during my undergraduate degree where I experienced harmful levels of burnout, but Dr. Cameron always encouraged me to push through and never failed to remind me of the immense fulfillment that comes from a career as a musician and an educator,” Sharkey noted. “I’ll be forever indebted to Dr. Cameron for the impact he had on me during my time at MSU.”

For Cameron, his hard work pays off when students like Wilson and Sharkey see themselves as the success stories he has always known them to be.

“Any time a student or group of students achieves at a high level, it is bound to have a positive effect on the public’s perception of Missouri State and the music department. Students who achieve at this level are an inspiration to their peers and to prospective students who are looking for a program that will challenge them,” Cameron said.

“I couldn’t be prouder of these students,” he added. “They push themselves much farther than I push them, because they love to perform and love to figure out the nuances that make their pieces evolve from good to great.”

Explore opportunities in music performance

Photo credits: Scott Cameron.