Adjunct Faculty
Areas of Expertise: Taiko, World Music, Rudimental Drumming, Applied Percussion
Urie Kline first began to study drums and percussion at age 15, and continued playing in bands and orchestras throughout high school and college. He was center snare with the University of Pittsburgh Marching Band in 2012, and has served as drumline staff with the Pittsburgh Public Schools, Ambridge High School, Laurel High School and the University of Pittsburgh. Currently, Kline is the marching percussion instructor at Jersey Shore High School.
During his time at the University of Pittsburgh, Kline ventured into the realm of world music, studying tabla under Samir Chatterjee, gamelan under Indra Ridwan, and taiko as a founding member of Pittsburgh Taiko. This interest in traditional Japanese music led to an 18-month fellowship with renowned taiko artist Kenny Endo in Honolulu, Hawai’i, and a week of workshops in Tokyo, Japan, ranging from festival drumming to noh and kabuki theater and music. Kline has also attended the Global Musician Workshop, a world music camp hosted by members of the Silk Road Ensemble at DePauw University. There, he gained valuable insight into Afro-Peruvian, Brazilian and Middle-Eastern traditions, among others.
Since returning to Lycoming County, Kline has started or joined several projects related to furthering appreciation and understanding for traditional folkloric music, especially percussion, within the greater Susquehanna Valley. He founded Lyco Taiko, Williamsport’s own school of Tokyo-style taiko, which performs and educates across the state of Pennsylvania. Kline joined the faculty of Lycoming College in the fall of 2015 as an applied instructor, where he provides private percussion lessons, contributes both lectures and workshops to the World Music course, and currently teaches the World Drumming Lab, a group lesson class in which students learn several different styles of percussion from across the globe. Finally, he has lent his educational skills to organizations ranging from Susquehanna Health and the Uptown Music Collective to yoga studios and many local and state school districts.
In addition to his teaching schedule, Kline is an active performer in a variety of styles and settings. As a drummer, he has performed with several local artists, most notably area blues band The Cadillac Cats, and has recorded at historic FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala., with blues-rocker Becky Blue and fellow Lyco instructor Tim Breon. He also performs as a multi-percussionist with groups like the Caribbean-inspired Williamsport World Music Project and Balkan-style brass band HALIC. As a concert percussionist, he has performed with the Bucknell Orchestra, the Lycoming College Choirs, the Williamsport Civic Chorus, the Northern Appalachian Wind Symphony and the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra.
Kline is committed to the study of percussion in all its many varieties, and firmly believes that the study of music from cultures outside one’s own creates better musicians and more empathetic, understanding global citizens. He lives in Muncy, Pa.