Riley Warren

Background

About Riley Warren

Riley Warren is a native of Austin, Texas where he attended Round Rock High School and performed with the award-winning Rock Drums. He holds a Bachelor of Music Studies Degree and Performance Certificate from University of Texas at Austin, where he studied with Thomas Burritt, Bob Duke, and Jerry Junkin. While at UT, Riley performed with the Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, New Music Ensemble and Longhorn Band. In 2022, Riley earned his Masters of Music Education Degree from Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University, where he studied with Sarah Allen, Lynne Jackson, and Frank Troyka. Riley is currently in his 6th year as Director of Percussion at Forney High School. Under his direction, the Forney HS Percussion Ensemble performed at the 2022 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis, IN as a winner of the prestigious International Percussion Ensemble Competition, and recently earned an invitation to perform at the upcoming 2023 Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago, IL. In addition, the Forney HS Drumline and Indoor Drumline have earned high accolades at contests in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, as well as percussion captions at multiple area marching band competitions. Riley spent six consecutive summers from 2010-2015 performing in Drum Corps International as a member of both The Crossmen (2010-2013) and The Cadets (2014-2015), serving as Front Ensemble Section Leader for both groups and earning the distinction of Rookie of the Year in 2014 and Cadet of the Year in 2015. During his time with these organizations, Riley studied with Iain Moyer, Colin McNutt, Ian Hale, and Nathan Ratliff. Riley recently founded Rhythmic Wavelengths LLC, which specializes in custom percussion arranging and design for performing ensembles as well as professional consultation for percussion directors. He is an Educational Artist for Vic Firth and Zildjian, and currently resides in Dallas, Texas.