reed puleo

Percussion

Percussionist Reed Puleo dedicates himself to performing contemporary classics and the music of our time. A native of New Jersey, his musical upbringing included formative years playing with the New Jersey Youth Symphony Percussion Ensemble, of which he was a founding member.

Reed has performed extensively across the US and Europe, appearing at venues and festivals such as the Grafenegg Festival (AT), Darmstadt Summer Course (DE), Lucerne Festival (CH), Mass MOCA (MA), the TROMP International Percussion Competition (NL), Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ (NL), Percussive Arts Society International Convention, Oh My Ears! Festival, Caramoor Festival, National Sawdust, and Celebrity Series of Boston Stave Sessions. He has performed with groups like Talea Ensemble (NY), Klangforum Wien (AT), the Nieuw Ensemble (NL), Mantra Percussion (NY), Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, the Colorado Symphony, and as a soloist with the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra. 

He has worked with leading conductors and composers including Tim Weiss, Sir George Benjamin, Brad Lubman, Vimbayi Kaziboni, Thomas Adès, Elena Schwarz, Sylvain Cambreling, Bas Wiegers, Jonathan Nott, Rebecca Saunders, Beat Furrer, Helmut Lachenmann, Michael Gordon, Katherine Young, Luis Fernando Amaya, Matthew Aucoin, Nico Muhly, and Augusta Read Thomas. Other performances include those in Symphony Hall (Boston, MA), Carnegie Hall, the Teatro Solís (Montevideo, Uruguay), Auditorio Manuel de Falla (Granada, Spain), the Musikverein, Wiener Konzerthaus, and Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

A dedicated educator, he has also presented masterclasses to composers and percussionists at institutions including Boston Conservatory at Berklee, UMass Amherst, Texas Women’s University, Walnut Grove HS, and the University of Denver.

Reed holds degrees from the University of Michigan SMTD, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and studied for one year at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He has earned grants from the ThinkSwiss Foundation, and US Fulbright Foundation, which afforded him 2 years of study in Basel and Graz working with Klangforum Wien. His teachers include Kenneth Piascik, Doug Perkins, Samuel Z. Solomon, Nancy Zeltsman, Arnold Marinissen, Ian Antonio, Christian Dierstein, and Björn Wilker. Reed proudly performs with Vic Firth Drumsticks and Mallets, and Zildjian Cymbals.