Boston Conservatory at Berklee Percussion Ensemble

The Boston Conservatory Percussion Ensemble is co-directed by Kyle Brightwell and Matt Smallcomb.  

Kyle Brightwell is an assistant professor of percussion. He is an avid performer/percussionist and is currently a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra percussion section, with whom he has made music and toured worldwide since 2012. He has also performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, U.S. Navy Band, U.S. Army Orchestra, Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra (Japan), and the Orquestra Sinfônica da Bahia (Brazil), among others. 

Brightwell made his solo debut with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, performing James MacMillan's Veni, Veni, Emmanuel in March 2012. He is also a regular guest performer with ensemblenewSRQ, which is dedicated to the music of living and 20th-century composers. In addition to his performing career, he codirects a workshop at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and is an instructor for the Tanglewood Music Center. Brightwell is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where he studied with New York Philharmonic percussionist Daniel Druckman, and he received his master's degree from Boston University, where he studied with BSO principal timpanist Timothy Genis. 

Matt Smallcomb joined the Conservatory in 2022 as an associate professor of percussion.  

Smallcomb is currently a percussionist with Alarm Will Sound, a collaborative ensemble at the forefront of contemporary music and reputed as “one of the most vital and original ensembles on the American music scene” (New York Times). With a career spanning across diverse genres, Smallcomb has performed with leading artists and musicians including Tyondai Braxton, Rashad Becker, The Knights Chamber Orchestra, Regina Carter, Madeski Martin and Wood, Tyshawn Sorey, Wordless Orchestra, King Britt, Novus NY, Betsy Wolf, Mario Cantone, Peter Martin and has recorded on Nonesuch, Sony, Bedroom Community, Tzadik, and Cantaloupe record labels.  

Smallcomb recently held the drum chair at West Side Story on Broadway and prior to this, was the percussionist at The Cher Show. Smallcomb has also performed in the Broadway productions of Moulin Rouge, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, War Paint, Spongebob Squarepants, and Something Rotten.  

As an orchestral percussionist, Smallcomb was Principal Percussionist with the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra in Duluth, Minnesota for four seasons, as well as section percussionist with Symphony in C for seven seasons. Smallcomb has performed with the Seattle Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Vermont Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Lukes, The Pennsylvania Ballet and has performed various ensembles throughout the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Australia.  

He has studied drums and percussion with teachers Bob Nowak, Marko Marcinko, Barry Centanni, Mike Werner, and James Preiss. 

He currently lives in New York City with his wife, Sherry.