Bergjord Boarding

November 14, 2025

By: Luke

This Friday is one for the books. Dani, Nyssa, and I have a day full of contemporary percussion and Brazilian meats.

Nyssa and I started our morning with a clinic by Matthew Lau. He challenges the thought that you can only make. a living playing jazz if you play vibraphone. He has designed a performance, “IDENTITY”, that covers the full spectrum of vibraphone playing.

We were planning on seeing the University of North Texas perform, but Matthew went a little long and we didn’t want to have to sneak in mid performance. We instead walked the Expo hall again. This time Nyssa and I focussed the publishing companies. We thumbed through reams of percussion music. I picked up a couple of pieces for ensembles, and a book of cadences.

Now comes what we have been looking forward to. Fogo de Chao is a chain Brazilian steakhouse. There is a buffet option where you have free reign over chilled meat, cheese, fruit, and salads. While you eat those, there are men walking around with skewers of grilled meat. They go from table to table and offer cuts of grilled meat.

I only have the one photo from Fogo de Chao. It was delicious and a little overwhelming to try and keep up with the torrent of tasty tenderloin. We somehow stopped right before eating enough to need a wheelbarrow to get us out. The restaurant was just a 10 minute walk from the convention center. We had a boba place on our radar for the walk back. It turned out to be on the third floor of a run down mall. The boba teas hit the spot, and I even tried to take a video of us sticking our straws in …

.. and FAILED. Do not trust me with any camera work.

After lunch we went to see Greg Hersey. He has gained a following online for his energetic grooves. I had seen some of his videos before and loved them. His clinic was about creating grooves and the creative process. He is also a bang teacher and was a very informative clinician.

After that we had the afternoon concert of Nikki Glaspie & Punkadelick. They came out with their foot of the pedal and didn’t stop. They brought massive energy and unique style.

Then we all went to another drumset clinic. This one was Matt Billingslea. He is probably most well known as Taylor Swift’s drummer. He has had a full career in music starting in Nashville and taking him all over the world. He was very good at talking through his presentation and had dropping a lot of great life advice.

Our huge Friday concludes with a concert from Les Percussions de Strasbourg. This is a group at the leading edge of contemporary percussion literature. I do not love modern music. They were incredibly talented, but I can only take so much of a concert like that. Maybe I am less educated and can’t appreciate it, or maybe they are making more noise than music.