Our Mission
The Portland Summer Percussion Academy (PSPA) began in 2013 as a summer camp where high school percussionists could work closely and directly with professionals in an intensive, but fun, one-week experience. The PSPA is a program of the Portland State University School of Music & Theater co-directed by Brett Paschal and Chris Whyte, and features a collaboration with the Portland Percussion Group and world-class percussionists from around the United States.
The PSPA serves an important role as an adjunct to the music education of youth in the Northwest region, especially in an era where resources for effective teaching are limited in public school settings. We aim to foster and assist in the development of youth that they will become critically-thinking, contributing members of not just our own society, but as citizens of the world at large.