San Diego Percussion Festival returns, supporting student drumming and ensemble growth

The San Diego Percussion Festival kept its place in the student music calendar as a late-school-year checkpoint for young drummers, with San Marcos High School Bands listing the event for May 2, 2026. For percussion students, that matters because it gives one more public stage before summer, one more ensemble to listen to, and one more chance to measure progress in front of peers.

Founded in 2015 by Matthew Armstrong, the festival was built as a concert-percussion experience for students across San Diego and Southern California. Armstrong’s Yamaha artist profile says the event partners with the San Diego Symphony, Yamaha and the Percussive Arts Society, a combination that ties school programs to professional performance and the gear side of the drum world in one recurring showcase. That kind of structure keeps the local scene active, not just busy: it gives students repertoire, feedback and a reason to keep practicing when the school year is winding down.

The May 2 listing also fits a pattern that has already shown up in San Diego County. Rancho Bernardo High School Percussion Ensemble performed at the San Diego Percussion Festival on May 3, 2025, at San Marcos High School, with Duane Otani listed as director and Ronnie Valles and Chris Amaro identified as percussion instructors in the posted performance video. That is the kind of concrete, local proof drumming communities look for when they talk about a scene staying healthy: multiple schools, multiple teachers and a festival stage that keeps returning.

The symphony connection gives the event even more weight. The San Diego Symphony says it supports public school music education through school programs that include virtual school concerts and in-person open rehearsals for middle and high school groups. It also offers $10 student tickets for Masterworks concerts at Jacobs Music Center, with up to two tickets per concert online using a student code, and runs a High School Ambassadors program for San Diego County students ages 16 to 18. Put together, those programs show a pipeline that reaches from classroom percussion sections to the concert hall.

The California Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society describes percussion festivals as platforms for performance, feedback and growth for students and educators, which is exactly the role the San Diego event appears to have claimed. In a region where school ensembles need visible milestones to stay sharp, the festival gives students one more reason to show up, lock in and keep the drumming community moving into the next season.