Eric Willie
Biography
Eric Willie is Professor of Music and Percussion Area Head at the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG), where his work spans teaching, academic leadership, faculty governance, student success, and creative scholarship. At UNCG, he has served as a Provost Fellow, Chair of the Faculty Council for the College of Visual and Performing Arts, Chair of Faculty for the School of Music, and a member of the Executive Committee of the UNCG Faculty Senate. He also serves as an elected member of the Board of Directors of the Percussive Arts Society.
Willie received the 2024 UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching, recognizing his contributions to pedagogy, performance, and community-engaged teaching practices. In 2026, he was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Arts and Letters at his undergraduate alma mater, Austin Peay State University.
For more than a decade, Willie has researched the Maracatu Nações traditions of northeastern Brazil. As a 2022 U.S. Fulbright Scholar, he lived in Recife, Pernambuco, where he conducted research and/or performed with Quebra Baque and Maracatu Estrela Brilhante de Igarassu. During his Fulbright, he also served as a Regents Professor at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco and as co-director of the IV Encontro Percussivo.
His scholarship has appeared in Percussive Notes, Rhythm!Scene, and GIA Publications’ Rehearsing the Concert and Marching Percussion Ensemble, to which he contributed a chapter. His compositions and pedagogical works have been published by Tapspace Publications, Row-Loff Productions, Ox and Lamb Publishing, and Musicon Publications. His music has been selected by state music education associations and as required repertoire for competitions, including the annual Modern Snare Drum Competition.
Prior to joining the faculty at UNCG, Willie taught at Tennessee Technological University. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Austin Peay State University, a Master of Music from the University of Kentucky, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas.
Explore His Recent Work
Percussion concerto with Greensboro Symphony.
Eric Willie invited to serve as Percussion Consultant with the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps.
Eric Willie contributes chapter to the book Rehearsing the Concert and Marching Percussion Ensemble.
Commissioned to composed etudes for the North Carolina Bandmaster’s Association/NCMEA All-State Auditions. These will be used in a two-year rotation for 9-10 and 11-12 auditionees. Listen to a great recording here, performed by Dr. Brady Spitz of one of the mallet etudes.