Holmes Elementary Percussion Coach
Dr. Eric Hines is a professional percussionist/educator residing in Chicago. An accomplished performer of classical, jazz, Caribbean, Brazilian, Mexican, and popular percussion, Dr. Hines maintains an active international touring schedule. As a bandleader, Eric appears regularly in the Chicago music scene directing his steel pan driven Caribbean jazz ensemble Eric Hines & Pan Dulce. Dr. Hines is also the drummer/percussionist for Sones de México. With two GRAMMY nominations, Sones de México is the country’s premier folk music organization specializing in Mexican son. As a scholar of Cuban folkloric music, Eric has studied in Havana and Matanzas with master rumba musicians Maximino Duquesne Martinez, Francisco “Minini” Zamora Chirino, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, and Los Rumberos de Cuba. His dissertation Recipe for a Guaguancó Sabroso: Understanding Quinto Improvisation in Cuban Rumba was published in 2015.
An in-demand clinician of concert, marching, and world percussion, Dr. Hines has presented at the Library of Congress, International Percussion Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico, PAS Days of Percussion (Texas, Arizona, & Louisiana), TMEA Clinic/Convention, many universities, and summer percussion programs. His performance and recording credits include work with The Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, The Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra, The Valley Symphony Orchestra, Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Too Hot to Handel Jazz Orchestra, Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, and The Ravinia Jazz Mentors. Eric has performed internationally throughout Puerto Rico, China, England, Scotland, Belgium, France, Canada, and Mexico.
Dr. Eric Hines is a Sabian Artist, Tycoon Percussion Artist, Vic Firth Scholastic Educator, and DrumDial Artist.
Who is your favorite composer?
My favorite composer is Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky was tremendously ahead of his time. He always found ways to challenge audiences and performers and helped to sculpt the sound of the twentieth century. He was particularly significant in his incorporation of jazz elements into classical music, and advancements in percussion writing.
Fun fact that might surprise people
I played the bagpipes throughout junior high and high school, and I competed in the 2000 World Bagpipe Competition in Glasgow, Scottland.
