Emerson Wahl's passion for collaboration continues to reward him with significant musical situations. In the realm of experimental and chamber music, Wahl has recently played and collaborated with Inverted Space Ensemble, Modern Music Ensemble of University of Washington (directed by Dr. Cristina Valdés), The Sound Ensemble, and the UW Percussion Ensemble. He continues to work with these groups in Seattle, playing pieces by John Luther Adams, Morton Feldman, Earle Brown, Steve Reich, John Zorn, Christian Wolff, John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, and Johanna Beyer. At his alma mater California State University Northridge (CSUN), Wahl played with the progressive flute ensemble Discovery Players under the direction of Lawrence Kaplan. Groups he founded and co-founded include: progressive metal ensemble The Unborn (c. 2000), experimental folk-rock band Knife Jockeys (c. 2008), and The Wahlflower Jazz Trio (2010). Mr. Wahl’s compositions, arrangements, and études can be heard and/or viewed on his website. His most recent project is an arrangement of the entire My Bloody Valentine album Loveless, for vibraphone and other instruments. It is a collaboration with Blake Straus, and will be finished by the end of 2017. The Farewell Anthem (2016) is a great example of his subtle exploration of the talkbox, in which he weaves it in over celestial, yet distorted shoegaze textures. His intention to keep percussion at the forefront of his compositions, while entwining his favorite styles from the turn of the century and post-modern era (shoegaze, dream-pop, progressive metal, grunge) contribute to his unique and fresh approach to composition. He composed his own album The Greenhouse Suite in 2011, which he played virtually all the instruments on. It is a concept album, drawing inspiration from the world of plants- interestingly, it features a non-percussion instrument: the talkbox, which is one of Wahl’s favorites and a major inspiration for the album. One of the major highlights of Wahl’s endeavors as a composer and percussionist has been his relationship with percussion legend William Kraft, who he has spent a good deal of time with. Subsequently, Wahl has learned much about Kraft's composition process and found a special interest in his Concerto for Four Percussion Soloists and Orchestra. Wahl eventually wrote an essay on it which was edited by Kraft himself, and is available to read on his website. Kraft also reviewed and helped Wahl with the composition process of his Theme and Variations for Snare Drum. Recently, Wahl played Princiapl Timpani with the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra in a side by side collaboration concert with members of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Ludovic Morlot. At CSUN, Mr. Wahl was an active member of the CSUN Percussion Ensemble, with whom he premiered two of his own arrangements, one of which he conducted. Both arrangements are of songs from two of his favorite post-modern bands, Deftones, and Broken Social Scene, respectively. In the field of music pedagogy, Wahl’s passion is exactly what makes him a sensible educator! He has taken on undergraduate students at UW, instructed the Grant High School Marching Lancers drum line (Van Nuys, California), and taught privately at various music academies in California. Wahl has composed numerous études for his students, and has transcribed a large amount of music for them as well; these études can be found under the manuscripts section of his website. Wahl has studied with Raynor Carroll, Mike Crusoe, Dr. Bonnie Whiting, Aaron T. Smith, John Magnussen, Naoko Takada, Robert Carson, Chuck Silverman, Chuck Flores, Bruce Becker, Tim McIntyre, and Bernard Galane. He received the Danielle Salyer Memorial Scholarship for musical and academic excellence from Pierce College in 2013, and was awarded another scholarship by the University of Washington upon his acceptance as a graduate student in 2016. Wahl is currently working towards a Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he is studying with Mike Crusoe and Dr. Bonnie Whiting. He holds the Bachelor of Music degree in Percussion Performance from California State University, Northridge and the Associate of Arts degree in Drum Set Performance from Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, CA.