by
Rhythm Scene Staff
| Aug 05, 2021
Charles Kalajian is a diverse percussionist who plays in musical settings including orchestras, concert bands, jazz groups, percussion ensembles, Middle Eastern ensembles, and liturgical music. His teaching duties include positions in higher education as well as teaching emerging artists. He is a faculty member in the Percussion Department at Rhode Island College. His responsibilities include teaching applied percussion to music majors, percussion methods to education majors, and directing the Rhode Island College Percussion Ensemble. Charles also serves on the recruiting committee for the college. He is a faculty member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School, where he teaches percussion and drumset to all ages and directs the school’s Jazz Combo Performance Group, and he is the founder and CEO of Maestro Music Professionals. He regularly performs with the Festival Orchestra of the Chorus of Westerly, the South Coast Brass Band, and many other freelance gigs in and around Southern New England.
Rhythm! Scene: If you weren't a percussionist and educator, what career could you see yourself having pursued?
Charles Kalajian: This is a tough question and, honestly, I have no answer. Music defines me. It’s what I love. My guess is if I weren’t performing, studying, or instructing percussion, I would feel incomplete.
R!S: As a freelance artist, what's one of the weirdest gigs you've taken or oddest jobs you've had outside the industry?
CK: When I was in college, I worked with a demolition company during the summer. Since I was the youngest person on the site, one of my jobs was to sit on the top of the crusher conveyor and toss out anything that couldn’t go through the chute. I think they gave me that job for two reasons: I was young enough to climb to the top of the machine and naïve enough to not realize how dangerous an assignment it was.
R!S: What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?
CK: I was always fascinated by the authority a conductor had. When I was three years old and on a trip to Disney World with my family, I pushed my way in and took over for the conductor on Disney’s Main St, USA. I ended up leading the Marching Band through the theme park. I think that’s when I realized music was my passion.
R!S: What is your favorite percussion instrument and why?
CK: I have three favorites: doumbek, timpani, and drum set, since each one defines who I am as an artist and an educator. But if I had to pick one that has influenced who I am as an artist, I would have to say the doumbek. For me, this instrument reinforces the part of music that is more than notes on a page but rather music that is felt with your soul. Learning to play the doumbek speaks to the importance of internalizing an instrument — in essence, learning “knee to knee” by watching and doing. This instrument has helped me to perpetuate my Armenian cultural traditions as well as apply and incorporate the rhythms to other genres of music.
R!S: Where did you grow up, and what’s one interesting thing about your childhood (musically or otherwise)?
CK: I was born is Newton, Massachusetts, and lived there for six years before moving to Rhode Island. While in Newton, my family enjoyed the many community arts programs that the city sponsored, from outdoor concerts to the All-Newton Music School programs. We enjoyed varied cultural experiences that I believe helped foster my love for music. Equally important to me was traveling with my dad, an outstanding Middle Eastern musician, to numerous gigs where I was encouraged and inspired to perform. Being exposed to so many musical genres at a young age helped shape my technique and abilities, which allows me to infuse unexpected rhythms into my performances.