Dr. Andrew Veit is a freelance musician, composer, and educator based in the Chicago area. Dr. Veit serves as the Marching Percussion Coordinator at North Central College in Naperville, IL, and operates the Veit Percussion Studio. He also works with the Marion Catholic High School percussion program, and is the Co-Associate Director of the Heartland Marimba organization.
As a performing artist, Dr. Veit has performed and presented clinics at several professional organizations such as the Society of Composers Inc. National Conference, Percussive Arts Society International Convention, Collegiate Band Director’s National Association conferences, the North American Saxophone Alliance, and the Iowa Bandmasters Association. In 2019 Dr. Veit presented over a dozen clinics at the Music for All Prairie State Band Festival at North Central College. He was also the primary percussion adjudicator at the 70th annual Hong Kong School Music and Speech Association’s Festival in 2018. Dr. Veit is a founding member of Heartland Marimba Quartet, who were featured soloists at the 2018 SCI National Conference at the University of Puget Sound. Dr. Veit and the Heartland Marimba Quartet had the pleasure of premiering “The Principal of Vibration,” a large multi-movement work by composer Brett Dietz at the Indianapolis Historical Society.
Dr. Veit is a busy performer having toured several times for concerto appearances. He has performed with the Kansas Wesleyan University Symphonic Band and has been invited to perform with the North Central College Wind Ensemble in 2020. Dr. Veit and HMQ commissioned and premiered Paul Brice-Brenner’s “Concerto for Marimba Quartet and Band,” which was funded by a grant awarded by the Iowa Arts Council. They are also currently working with composer Kevin Romanski for a concerto for marimba quartet and orchestra, which will be premiered in May 2020 with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra.
As an avid proponent of new music, Dr. Veit has commissioned several works for solo percussion. “Grimoire” by Caleb Pickering is a solo for vibraphone and is a fast-paced and inspiring piece that allows the performer to display the fullest extent of their skill. Dr. Veit also specializes in finding gaps in the percussion repertoire, which led him to commission “Cerulean Tears,” a multiple percussion piece by female composer Dr. Jennifer Bellor of UNLV. This collaboration proved so successful that Dr. Bellor invited Dr. Veit to record her new vibraphone and marimba duet, “Time’s Arrest.”
Dr. Veit also has several original compositions published across many genres. His marimba quartet, “Nested,” was featured in a presentation on new works for high school percussionists at the 2018 IBA Convention. His duo for baritone saxophone and percussion, “Flick,” was featured at the NASA Midwestern Regional Conference in 2015.
Dr. Veit earned degrees from the University of Delaware (B.M.), Texas A&M University-Commerce (M.M.), and The University of Iowa (D.M.A.). He is an artist and clinician for Innovative Percussion, Marimba One marimbas, and Beetle Percussion.