Evan makes his living as a freelance percussionist, playing all styles of music. Evan received his formal musical training at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), where he studied primarily with legendary Cleveland Orchestra Principal Percussionist, Richard Weiner. Evan also pursued additional study with Paul Yancich, Marc Damoulakis, Pete Korpela, Jamey Haddad, Roger Carter, and Arthur Lipner.
After attending CIM, Evan worked as an extra percussionist with the symphony orchestras of Buffalo, Fort Wayne, West Virginia, Erie, Youngstown, and many others. He has also played with a variety of groups including the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Cleveland Opera Theater, CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, FiveOne Experimental Orchestra, Lakeside Summer Symphony, Loomis Brothers Three Ring Circus, and the Patriot Brass Ensemble. Evan has worked as a backup percussionist for Andrea Bocelli, Roberta Flack, Lee Greenwood, Heather Headley, Tony Desare, and John Legend. He has performed at the Ohio Day of Percussion with the Marimba Masters of Cleveland Marimba Quintet, recorded with the Albany record and LudwigMasters Publishing labels, and has represented The Clevelander Drum Company at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, where he is employed as a percussion instrument manufacturer. Evan’s current project includes the Mobius Trio, specializing in cocktail jazz.
Evan has taught percussion across Northeastern Ohio at over 30 educational institutions and foundations. His students have gone on to be music majors in a variety of platforms.
A Lake County native, Evan graduated from Riverside High School as a recipient of the John Philip Sousa Award. He got his start in music studying percussion with John Roeland (Annapolis Symphony/Ice Capades Orchestra) Evan later played in the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and The Cleveland Settlement Jazz Orchestra. Evan’s essential message imparted from John Roeland…“Be well rounded, stay honest, play from the heart, and swing!”