The Third Angle Percussion Quartet is a core ensemble of the Third Angle New Music Ensemble, based in Portland, Oregon. Renowned for their innovative and unique Percussion Extravaganza programs, the members of the quartet share over
75 years experience in the performance of contemporary music as soloists and chamber musicians throughout the United States, including over 100 premieres by American composers. The members of the ensemble have performed throughout the
United States in a wide variety of performance situations, including orchestral performance, Broadway road shows, steel drum orchestras, live radio broadcasts, cruise ship tours, music festivals, ballet, opera, live theatre, and bowling alley closures.

Mark Goodenberger is currently principal timpanist of the Portland Baroque Orchestra, a percussionist with the Portland Opera Orchestra, and percussion faculty member of Lewis and Clark College; Jeffrey Peyton performs as percussionist with the Oregon Symphony, is principal percussionist with the
Oregon Bach Festival and principal timpanist of the Oregon Ballet and Cascade Festival Orchestras; Joel Bluestone is Assoc. Professor of Music at Portland State University; and Gordon Rencher is principal percussionist of the Oregon
Ballet and the Portland Opera Orchestras.

Ron Blessinger, violin soloist, received a Bachelors degree from the Oberlin Conservatory and a Masters degree with distinction in performance from the New England Conservatory. His teachers have included Masao Kawasaki, Greg Fulkerson,
and James Buswell. A member of the Oregon Symphony since 1990 and of Third Angle since 1993, Ron has served as concertmaster of the Peter Britt Festival Orchestra, principal second violin of the AIMS orchestra in Graz, Austria, and
as Concertmaster of the Cascade Music Festival Orchestra. Ron has recorded for the Gagliano and KOCH International record labels.

Jeff Johnson, double bass, has been a member of the Oregon Symphony since 1992 and of Third Angle since 1995. Jeff received his Masters degree from the Eastman School of Music, and pursued additional study at the Cleveland School of Music. He is the former principal bassist with the San Antonio Symphony, and has participated in numerous summer festivals, including the Aspen, Chautauqua, Round Top, and Carmel Bach Festivals.

Saxaphonist Jeff Homan is equally gifted in jazz, big band, contemporary, and orchestral styles. Recent performances include appearances with the Cal Scott Group, the Carlton Jackson/Dave Mills Big Band, the Portland Sax Quartet, the
Cascade and Sunriver Music Festivals, and with bandleaders Gary Hobbs, Anthony Braxton, Oliver Lake, Steve Kristofferson, and many others. Jeff’s recording
credits include the Elektra, Atlantic and Black Saint labels.

Guest percussionists Andrew Spencer and Luanne Warner are renowned for their performances throughout the United States, South America and the Far East as soloists, chamber musicians, and orchestral performers. Andrew Spencer is currently Professor of Percussion at Central Washington State University, in Ellensburg, Washington, and Luanne is in high demand as a free-lance percussionist in the San Francisco Bay area. Both artists received advanced degrees in performance from the Eastman School of Music.

Third Angle New Music Ensemble
Jeffrey Peyton, Artistic Director

The premiere contemporary chamber ensemble in the Pacific Northwest, the Third Angle New Music Ensemble of Portland, Oregon is dedicated to the presentation of 20th century chamber music, with an emphasis on programming music by American composers. Since its inception in 1985 the ensemble has presented seventy-nine programs of contemporary music and has commissioned nineteen new works, firmly establishing the ensemble’s place as one of the nation’s foremost presenters of contemporary music.