Gordon Hicken, D.M.

Biography

Dr. Gordon Hicken currently serves as an adjunct instructor of percussion at Towson University where he teaches applied lessons and the percussion techniques course. Previously, he served on the faculties of the Interlochen Arts Camp, Stevenson University, Midwestern State University, Angelo State University and the University of South Carolina.

Dr. Hicken is a member of the saxophone and percussion duo Rogue Two along with Dr. Andrew J. Allen. Since the ensemble’s founding in 2015, Rogue Two performed recitals of commissioned chamber works at the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Convention, multiple North American Saxophone Alliance Conferences, the Navy Band Saxophone Symposium and the 18th World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia. Their 2018 debut studio album, Step Inside: New American Music for Saxophone and Percussion, and their most recent collaboration with the SAGA Quartet, 2020’s The Avenging Spirit, are available from Equilibrium Records.

Under his direction, Dr. Hicken’s percussion ensembles have accepted invitations to perform at the 2018 TMEA Convention, the 2018 Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges Annual Meeting, and as an exhibition group at the 2017 UIL Texas 2A State Marching Contest. His collegiate students secured teaching jobs as certified music educators across the country, while others earned acceptance to graduate percussion studios at Indiana University, the University of South Carolina and Oklahoma City University. His high school students earned acceptance to percussion studios at the Manhattan School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Peabody Institute, University of Texas at Austin, University of North Texas and Indiana University.

Dr. Hicken presented sessions and clinics at state, national and international percussion and music education conferences, and he is an active clinician in universities and secondary schools. He arranges music for marching and concert percussion ensembles throughout the United States, and he published articles in The Instrumentalist, Percussive Notes, Rhythm! Scene, and the National Association of Collegiate Wind and Percussion Instructors Journal.

​Dr. Hicken holds a D.M. in Percussion Performance from Florida State University, an M.M. in Percussion Performance from the University of South Carolina, and a B.M. in Music Education from Furman University, and his primary teachers include Dr. John W. Parks IV, Dr. Scott Herring, Dr. John Beckford, Prof. James Hall and Mr. Ron Schwartz. Dr. Hicken is a proud educational artist for Pearl Drums and Adams Musical Instruments, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo Drumheads, Innovative Percussion Sticks and Mallets, and Black Swamp Percussion.​