A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Mell Csicsila is one of Ohio's most active percussion performers. He is a featured soloist and principal percussionist of Carl Topilow's Cleveland Pops Orchestra and is frequently seen on stage or in the pit with a number of professional groups across a five state region (from NYC to Ft. Wayne, Indiana.) He is frequently heard with Playhouse Square's Broadway Series performing for touring shows including Wicked, Spamalot, Hairspray, The Producers, The Light in the Piazza, and Ragtime. From 2000 to 2006 Mell's summers were busy with the now defunct Lyric Opera Cleveland where was the percussionist for a number of productions, including works by John Adams, Philip Glass, Mark Adamo, and the pantheon of standard opera composers. He was soloist for the U.S. premiere of Bertold Hummel's "Aphorisms on BACH, Op. 105" with the Trinity Chamber Orchestra, and he often performs as a soloist of both serious concert music and ragtime and novelty music with professional, school, and community ensembles.
In addition to classical music, Mell has been called upon to support popular artists and groups like The Moody Blues, Yes, Kansas, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Clay Aiken, Collin Raye, Al Jarreau, Roberta Flack, and Jeffrey Osborne. Interested in (most of) the world's musics, he has performed in concert with Carnatic master Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Native American Flutist R. Carlos Nakai, guitarist Esteban, and the ever effervescent Charo (a definite highlight.)
Mell can be heard on disc with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony on the New World and TNC labels (including the Grammy(tm) winning performance of Messaien's Oiseaux Exotiques,) on incidental music for the Cleveland Play House, and recordings for the United Church of Christ and Ludwig Music Publishers
As a drummer, Mell can often be heard in a variety of settings including acting as George Judy's stunt double with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, with the Dan Zola Orchestra (big band), and playing drumset with a number of area orchestras in pops programming. Combo work includes the Cleveland Pops Octet, saxophonist Ed Michaels, pianist/composer Marshall Griffith, Eastern European/Klezmer artist Walt Mahovlich, and occasionally leading his own groups.
Mell holds both Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Cleveland State University and has done additional graduate study at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His teachers include Cleveland Orchestra percussionists Donald Miller, Richard Weiner, Paul Yancich, and Joe Adato.
In demand as a teacher, Mell has been on faculty at Cuyahoga Community College since 1995 where he maintains an active studio of college and community students. He has been a guest presenter and an Independent Teaching Artist for the Cleveland Orchestra's Educational Activities Office since 1999. He has previously served on the faculty of Kent State Stark County Campus where he was the percussion faculty and the assistant concert band director. He is frequently called upon as a contest adjudicator for regional solo and ensemble contests, scholarship competitions, and for the Music in the Parks Educational Programs Network.
duo ANIME is the outgrowth of Andrew Pongracz and Mell Csicsila's experiences performing as a duo while they were students at Cleveland State University. Frequently called into service together to perform for recitals and ensembles, they represented CSU as part of the delegation to the 1993 Odenwald Festspiele in Gras-Ellenbach, Germany. After graduation, they moved on to work together professionally with artists like Aretha Franklin, Yes, Kansas, Gary Puckett, Dennis DeYoung, Charo and many of the region's major performing groups including the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Playhouse Square Theatre Orchestra, Lyric Opera Cleveland, and the Wheeling, Erie, Fort Wayne, Mansfield, and Youngstown Symphonies. The logical step was to establish a professional chamber duo that capitalized on their common interests and activities. duo ANIME is a regular performer for the Cleveland Orchestra's "Musical Rainbow" series of concerts both at Severance Hall and "on the road" and has gone on to perform programs for the Cleveland Composers Guild, the Cleveland State University Chorale, and many other organizations.
trio ANIME is a further outgrowth of duo Anime with the addition of percussionist Scott Thomas. The flexibility of an additional player allows for a greater selection of music to be presented to audiences.
Andrew Pongracz is Principal Percussionist of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony and was previously the Principal Percussionist of the "Music at Penn's Woods" Festival. He performs with the a number of ensembles across the region and is a graduate of Hiram College and Cleveland State University. His percussion teachers include Donald Miller, Tom Fries, and George Kiteley. Andrew is on faculty at Hiram College and Lorain County Community College and was previously on faculty at Mount Union College.
Scott Thomas is a percussionist based in Canton, Ohio. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Literature from The University of Akron, teacher certification from Ashland University, and is completing a Master's of Music Education at Cleveland State University. Scott has performed in a wide variety of styles including groups such as the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Youngstown Symphony, Warren Philharmonic, and the Ashland Symphony. Beyond his busy performance schedule and private teaching roster, Scott is also teaching instrumental music in the Jackson City Schools in Stark County and was previously a band director in Holmes County.
Thank you so much for the add! If you are interested in any updates of my music, please join my mailing list (www.diwupiano.com or www.myspace.com/diwupiano) where I will send out the latest news of my upcoming concerts, free music, etc. In any case, it's great to have you as a friend and I hope someday I will have the honor to perform for you in person!
