Blake Wilkins is as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Houston's Moores School of Music. Under his direction the Percussion Ensemble at the Moores School has distinguished itself by winning the Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition three times (2003, 2006, 2010); the release of two critically acclaimed commercial compact discs; and through its Percussion Ensemble Commissioning Project, which to date has generated eleven new works for large percussion ensemble. Prior to this appointment, from 1993-97, he served as percussionist and substitute principal timpanist with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. A strong advocate for the performance of new music, he performs regularly with the Houston-based new music ensemble Musiqa. He also co-founded two experimental improvisation ensembles: El Dos with bassist Michael Lee; and The Moment Trio with Lee and pianist/violist Christian Asplund, which their first compact disc, Constructions One, in fall 2005 Additionally, he has cultivated a research interest in the music of Japanese Toru Takemitsu, and his doctoral document, "An Analysis of Musical Temporality in Toru Takemitsu's Rain Tree (1981), was awarded the 1999 Provost's Dissertation Award by the University of Oklahoma. He is equally active as a composer, and his three works for large percussion ensemble have been recorded by the University of Oklahoma and University of Houston Percussion Ensembles on the Albany Records label. His Twilight Offering Music was a prizewinner in the 1988 Percussive Arts Society International Composition Competition. Dr. Wilkins holds degrees in Percussion Performance and Composition from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Southern California.