
ABOUT

Bio:
Dr. Michal Brauhn Damm is a percussion performer, arranger, composer, and educator based in southeast Iowa. An accomplished musician, she has performed internationally, including a featured performance of Figure & Form by Molly Joyce at the 2022 Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Damm has toured widely across the U.S. and internationally with renowned groups such as the University of Iowa and University of Oklahoma Steel Bands, where she performed for communities and school districts to promote the education of steel pan music.
Damm made her European debut as Principal Timpanist for the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria, where she performed Haydn's Paukenmesse at St. Stephen's Cathedral and Esterházy Palace. She also contributed to the Iowa Steel Band’s 2018 album, Jungle Music, alongside world-renowned pan artist Andy Narell. Damm has frequently collaborated with Narell, serving as his staff drummer at the Morgantown Ellie Mannette Steel Pan Festival in 2018 and at the Laborie Advanced Steel Band Workshop in St. Lucia in 2023.
Michal Brauhn Damm received her Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance from the University of Iowa, where she studied with Dr. Dan Moore. She received her Masters in Percussion Performance at the University of Arizona with Dr. Morris Palter. As a Teaching Assistant for the percussion program, she taught the University of Arizona Steel Band, as well as undergraduate lessons.
Michal Brauhn Damm is currently a freelance musician in Norman, OK. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Oklahoma in 2025, where she served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, instructing individual lessons, beginner drumset courses, steel bands, and the Brazilian Percussion Ensemble
Brauhn Damm's research focuses on the diversification of percussion curriculum through the representation of woman-composers. She has presented resources for the representation of women in the music community at multiple universities and institutions.
Brauhn Damm actively welcomes new opportunities in performance, composition, education, and collaboration. She is well-versed in arranging, transcribing, and composing for steel band, solo marimba, percussion ensembles, and more. She is currently published through Tapspace with her 2022 marimba duet, Big Springs.