East Texas A&M percussion ensemble wins international competition
East Texas A&M’s percussion ensemble claimed its fourth PAS IPEC title, one of only three university winners in a global field.
East Texas A&M University’s percussion ensemble has won the Percussive Arts Society’s International Percussion Ensemble Competition for the fourth time in school history, putting the Lion program among just three university winners in this year’s field. The university publicized the June 18 result on June 26, and PAS says IPEC draws entrants from across the globe in middle school, high school, nonprofit and university categories.
That context gives the win more weight than a standard campus celebration. IPEC is built to measure musical excellence, so East Texas A&M’s finish points to an ensemble that can handle the demands student drummers care about most: precision, balance, repertoire depth and the kind of ensemble cohesion that stands up under adjudication. For a university percussion studio, that is a benchmark result, not just a trophy.
The 2026 title fits a long competitive run. East Texas A&M percussion ensembles also won the PAS International Percussion Ensemble Competition in 2010 and 2023 under the school’s earlier Texas A&M University-Commerce name, and PAS has described the group as a multiple-time IPEC winner. PAS also notes that East Texas A&M percussion ensembles have presented PASIC showcase concerts and released recordings since 2007, signs of a program that has stayed visible well beyond one competition cycle.
Dr. Brian Zator has been part of that arc since joining East Texas A&M in 2001. The university identifies him as a Regents Professor of Music in percussion, and PAS award coverage says that winning IPEC led him to conduct seven PASIC showcase concerts. East Texas A&M also says its percussion studio emphasizes both solo and ensemble performance opportunities, which helps explain how the program keeps producing groups that can win at a national and international level. Lauren R. Teel, another percussion faculty member highlighted by the university, adds to that instructional depth.
The result matters because it shows continuity as much as success. East Texas A&M’s 2026 win was not an isolated surge, but the latest proof that the percussion culture in Commerce, Texas, has remained competitive at the top level, with a history that stretches from 2010 through 2023 and now to another IPEC title in 2026.
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