Melinda Ann Leoce

About Melinda

Melinda Leoce, M.M., is the Assistant Professor of Percussion and Music Business at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado. Before joining the faculty at Adams State, she served as the Instructor of Percussion and Director of Athletic Bands at Graceland University in Iowa. She is also an active performer and has appeared with the Des Moines Symphony, Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps, and on the John Psathas Percussion Project’s newest release, Volume I (2019; Navona Records).

Recent highlights of Leoce's teaching career include in-person appearances at the University of Central Florida Percussion Summer Institute, University of Central Arkansas Percussion Festival, and P.A.S. Virginia/D.C. Day of Percussion, as well as virtual appearances at the Kansas P.A.S. Virtual Drum Days, Shenandoah Conservatory, Boise State University, and McNeese State University.

Leoce also enjoys arranging and was recently hired as the Front Ensemble arranger for the Jubal Drum and Bugle Corps based in Dordrecht, the Netherlands. In September of 2022, Leoce will travel abroad to Dordrecht to work with the corps directly.

Leoce received her Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Central Florida and her Master in Percussion Performance and Certificate in World Music from The Florida State University. She is actively working on her Doctorate in Percussion Performance from Indiana University, where she achieved A. B. D. status in 2019.

In her free time, Leoce enjoys skiing, cooking, and spending time with her Australian Cattle Dog, Hudson.

I believe in respecting and cultivating my students' past and present musical endeavors while also exposing them to new genres, instruments, and experiences that illuminate future paths of study. I believe that the music classroom should be vibrant, collaborative, and diverse.