River Guerguerian is a percussionist and composer that has toured the world sharing and in search of sound.
His parents observed his love of percussion early. He was the kid in school obsessed with transcribing drum solos by greats like Elvin Jones and Max Roach and would go on to study music from around the world.
He is as comfortable with the limits of a single frame drum as he is with his world drum set including typical western trap kit pieces like bass and tom toms along with drums from around the world including the djembe, doumbek, and several other instruments.
If you are reading this soon after it is released you can catch him live with his group, Free Planet Radio, in Asheville at the AyurPrana Listening Room on March 16, 2024. You can also see him performing at Big Ears Music Festival with Min Xaio-Fen for a commission from the Smithsonian Institution to compose soundtracks for two Chinese historical silent films, Romance of the Fruit Peddler and Romance of the Western Chamber.
River is also the music director at Odyssey Community School in Asheville, NC and is the founder of Rhythm Asheville.
Conversations with River during private music lessons were on of the inspirations for me in starting this podcast.

River's website
https://www.guerguerian.com/

Free Planet Radio
https://www.freeplanetradio.com/

Asheville Rhythm
https://www.ashevillepercussionfestival.com/

Tickets for his show at AyurPrana Listening Room
https://stagehoundtix.com/events/freeplanetradio

Big Ears Festival
https://bigearsfestival.org/event/min-xiao-fen-with-river-guerguerian/