Saturnino Tiamson, Jr. (Hong Kong / Philippines)

Chair, Percussive Arts Society International Committee

 

Saturnino “Satur” Tiamson Jr. was hailed by *Time Out* Magazine as one of the Top 20 Musicians in Hong Kong in 2008. He is widely recognized as one of the most active and versatile drummers and percussionists in Asia today.

Tiamson is currently teaching drums and percussion at Harrow International School Hong Kong, The ISF Academy, Discovery Bay International School, and Initial-P Percussion Studio. He also serves as President of the Pambansang Samahan ng mga Banda sa Pilipinas, a 73-year-old national band association in the Philippines.

He completed a Diploma course at the University of the Philippines College of Music and a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance at St. Paul University – College of Music and Performing Arts, Manila.

As a session musician, he has performed in almost 40 productions, including several Asian and international premieres of Broadway musicals such as *Fun Home*, *Matilda*, *Waitress*, *Beautiful: The Carole King Musical*, and many more. He was one of the main cast members of *Wild, the Musical* by the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, which premiered in both Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. He has performed with both local and international artists, including some Cantopop artists in Hong Kong, Filipino artists, and international percussion artists such as Ney Rosauro and Kana Omori, among others.

Satur also performed as drummer and bandleader for the Hong Kong Disneyland Band from 2005 to 2015. He is a former percussionist of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and former principal percussionist of the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra and the Metro Manila Community Orchestra, as well as a guest musician with the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra. He was timpanist of the Southeast Asian Wind Ensemble in Thailand (2003) and toured across Asia with the Asian Youth Orchestra in 2001 and 2004. In 2018, he was featured as guest solo drummer with the Hong Kong Metropolitan Pop Orchestra and as a guest percussion artist at the first Asian Percussion Series held in Hong Kong in 2019.

In 2016, he won multiple gold medals and was awarded Senior Division Overall Champion in the instrumental jazz category at the 20th Annual World Championships of Performing Arts in the USA. In the same year, he won 2nd prize in the Drum Set Category at the 14th Italy Percussion Competition organized by the Italy Percussive Arts Society. Also in 2016, he was chosen by JCI Philippines as one of *The Outstanding Young Men* (TOYM) of the Philippines for Arts in Music.

Recognized as an active educator, Satur has given hundreds of clinics in schools, community bands, and festivals. He has performed and given clinics at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA) music workshops, Disney Performing Arts Band Workshops (Hong Kong), the International Percussion Education Association (IPEA) Hong Kong Percussion Fest, the Asia Pacific Percussion Federation Percussion Fest, the International Fringe Association Music Festival (IFA), Fringe Youth Festival (Hong Kong), NeoClassic Music School (Brunei), in Indonesia, and at TEDxHongKong.

His dedication to promoting music among the youth and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has earned him numerous awards, including the Bagong Bayani (Modern-Day Hero) Award for Culture and the Arts in 2014, the ABS-CBN Gawad Geny Lopez Jr. Bayaning Pilipino Award for Asia Pacific in 2015, the University of the Philippines Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus Award for Culture and the Arts in 2018, and the Presidential Award in 2018 conferred by the President of the Philippines.

Satur is an active member of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS), Chair of the PAS International Committee, a member of the PAS Advisory Board, and the founder of the Percussive Arts Society Philippine Chapter. Recently, they launched a new international percussion competition, the Marching Arts Asia Championships, held in the Philippines. He is an active judge/adjudicator in many band competitions in the Philippines and percussion competitions in Hong Kong, and was recently invited to judge at the 23rd edition of the Italy Percussion Competition.

Satur proudly endorses Zildjian cymbals, Prologix drum pads, Innovative Percussion, Toca Percussion, and Grover Pro Percussion.