A native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Henry Eichman has crafted his skill across the country as a classical musician, soloist, drummer, and teacher. Although the bulk of his expertise comes from performing in more “classical” settings, he has also made music with numerous big bands, salsa bands, jazz combos, musical theatre productions, and countless other musical situations throughout his career.

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Eichman is currently a percussionist with The U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own," based in Washington, D.C. In this role, as a member of the Ceremonial Band, he performs regularly for funerals at Arlington National Cemetery and other high-profile ceremonies and events in the National Capitol Region. Prior to this position, he served as Assistant Professor of Percussion at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he taught applied lessons, all percussion coursework, and directed the UMD Percussion Ensemble. He has also appeared as a guest artist at universities around the country presenting his clinic, "Crockpotting the Process: Discovering the Power of Consistent Practice Habits." 

 

While in Minnesota, Henry was Acting Principal Timpanist with the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra for three seasons, and has performed with organizations such as the Lyric Opera of the North, Minnesota Ballet, the Northern Lights Music Festival. He has taken the stage with several regional symphony orchestras and ensembles throughout the east coast and midwest including the Battle Creek Symphony, Jackson Symphony Orchestra, and the Bay Atlantic Symphony. Henry also performs regularly as a drummer with Catholic singer-songwriter Aly Aleigha at regional worship conferences, concerts, and other events.

 

Eichman has had the privilege of sharing concerts internationally at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica; at conservatories in Strasbourg and Lyon, France; and at the Royal College of Music in London. He won 2nd place in the 2017 Modern Snare Drum Competition, and had the honor of taking the stage with the inaugural All-Star International Percussion Ensemble at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in 2016. An advocate for new music, Eichman has also helped to commission new works by composers such as Gene Koshinski and Emmanuel Séjourné, and has been recorded on new works by composers Brett Jones, Ian Deterling, and Maria Thompson Corley.

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Outside the concert hall, Eichman dazzled audiences as a member of HersheyPark’s energetic “streetmosphere” ensembles The Chocolate Covered Band and The Cocoa Rhythm Factory, and also regularly performed around the east coast with the found-sound percussion group, JUNK ROCK, produced by Windish Entertainment. FUN FACT: as a member of The Cocoa Rhythm Factory, Henry was awarded the coveted (and totally real...) title of “fastest hands in HersheyPark,” an accomplishment earned by playing the xylophone blazingly fast while running around in circles for minutes on end.  

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As a teacher, Henry is passionate about connecting with others on an individual and personal level through music. Because of this, one of his great joys is teaching private music lessons. He has worked with percussion students of all ages as a faculty member at the Michigan State University Community Music School and Jackson Symphony Orchestra Community Music School (Jackson, MI); he taught guitar, piano, and percussion lessons for Greensleeves Music (West Chester, PA); and has enjoyed maintaining his own private lessons studio over the past few years. 

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Eichman holds degrees from West Chester University (BM Music Education & Performance), the University of Minnesota Duluth (MM), and Michigan State University (DMA). His doctoral research paper and lecture recital, “Developing Fluidity of Motion in Percussion Performance,” demonstrates how percussionists can approach practicing in ways that are both extremely effective and in line with their individual physiologies in order to play with the utmost technical fluidity and musical expression. Eichman’s primary teachers include Gwendolyn Dease, Gene Koshinski, Chris Hanning, Ralph Sorrentino, and Marc Jacoby, and he also studied various types of world percussion with Tim Broscious.