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ABOUT ANDREW

Andrew Turpening is an award-winning composer, musician, and music producer based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Andrew’s music has been featured on National Public Radio, and his ‘Land of 10,000 Homeless’ project about Minnesota’s homeless is used in schools and universities in classes addressing homeless and poverty.

 

Andrew has performed as a percussionist with many stars from the Spanish-speaking world such as Puerto Rican salsa legends Maelo Ruiz, Willie Gonzalez, Kevin Ceballo, Edgar Joel and Cuban pianist/vocalist Viviana Pintado. Andrew has studied with master Cuban percussionists Pepe Espinosa (Afro-Cuban All Stars, Cubanismo) and Yaroldi Abreu (Chucho Valdes), and was a percussion student at the famed National School of Art in Havana, Cuba for eight months.

 

As a composer, Andrew has received grants and fellowships from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Blacklock Nature Sanctuary, Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, University of Minnesota’s Human Rights Center, Nebraska’s Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and Springboard for the Arts' Hinge Residency in Fergus Falls, MN.

 

Andrew is currently focused on his new band, enTraance, an ensemble that blends Baroque-styled strings with sophisticated drums - influenced by his studies of Latin American percussion - with synthesizers and EDM styled beats. Please visit the 'enTraance' page under the 'Projects' tab to learn more about enTraance.

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