Jay Wanamaker is a percussionist and the president and CEO of

Roland Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

Americas and formerly held executive positions at Fender and

Guitar Center Guitar Center, Inc. is an American musical instrument retailer chain headquartered in Westlake Village, California. It operates 304 locations and is the largest company of its kind in the United States. The company oversees several subsidia ...

. He also worked for Yamaha,

Alfred Publishing Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

, and the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, and was chair of the

Percussive Arts Society The Percussive Arts Society (PAS) is a non-profit organization for professional percussionists and percussion educators. It was founded in 1961 in the United States and has over 5,000 members in 40 American chapters, with another 28 chapters abr ...

rudimental committee that published the 40 PAS

Drum rudiment In ''rudimental drumming'', a form of percussion music, a drum rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drumming patterns. The term "drum rudiment" is most closely associ ...

s. He has also published over 50 music books and instructional DVDs.

Biography

Jay Wanamaker was given a drum set by his uncle and by 4th grade was playing in a local drum corps in

Utica, New York Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...

He earned his bachelor's of music education at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam in 1977 and went on to earn his Masters of Music at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

in 1980. He then took a job teaching the marching band at the

's Thornton School of Music from 1981 to 1985. Concurrently, in the early 80s Wanamaker was working for Alfred Publishing as an editor of musical instruction materials and was serving on the Percussive Arts Society's rudimental percussion committee. In 1984, while serving as chair of the committee, he and the other members published the PAS 40 International Snare Drum Rudiments, which are currently the standard American drum rudiments for teaching and learning the drums. Other prominent committee members included Fred Sanford, Marty Hurley, John H. Beck, Anthony Cirone, William F. Ludwig Jr., Rob Carson, and other music professors, industry executives, and notable percussionists. Also in 1984, he published one of his most popular books, ''Championship Corps-Style Contest Solos.'' From 1985 to 2000, Wanamaker worked for Yamaha in various divisions, eventually becoming a Vice President. He then moved to Guitar Center for 10 years, where he worked as an Executive Vice President for Merchandise. He then spent 2 years with Fender and 6 months with Amati before attaining his current position in 2015 as the CEO and President of Roland Americas. After entering the corporate world he continued to publish drum books with Alfred, including rudimental solo collections and drum rudiment guides. Wanamaker has worked on Super Bowl halftime shows and his music is featured in the film ''Drumline.''

Publications

*''Championship Auxiliary Units'' *''Championship Corps-Style Contest Solos'' *''International Drum Rudiments'' Book *''International Drum Rudiments'' DVD *''Alfred's Rudimental Duets'' *''Alfred's Rudimental Contest Solos'' *''Alfred's Intermediate Snare Drum Solos'' *''Drum Rudiment Dictionary'' Wanamaker, Jay.''Drum Rudiment Dictionary: A Complete Reference Guide Containing the Percussive Arts Society's 40 International Drum Rudiments'' Alfred, 2002. * ''Corps-Style Drum Dictionary'' * ''Corps-Style Cadences''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wanamaker, Jay 1955 births Living people American chief executives of manufacturing companies American percussionists State University of New York at Potsdam alumni University of Kansas alumni