Don Skoog is an independent composer, musician, and writer who lives in Oak Park, Illinois. He is co-chair of the Emily Dickinson Society (EDIS) Arts Committee, has published in both the EDIS Journal and Bulletin, and will be presenting a music and poetry workshop at the EDIS International Convention in Taipei, Taiwan, in June, 2025. His compositions include Water and Fire for solo marimba (2nd Prize in the Percussive Arts Society’s 1982 Composition Contest), published by Mostly Marimba, and La Cantilena de las Luces (2018) for percussion ensemble, commissioned by Millikin University and published by CMP Press. Three of his marimba trio works, Attendance to Ritual, Art Song, and Mozambique have been republished by Mostly Marimba in 2023. Mr Skoog performs on drumset, Latin and Arabic percussion, marimba, Jazz vibraphone, and Flamenco cajón. He has taught percussion at the American Conservatory of Music, Sherwood Music School, and the Contemporary Music Project, which he founded in 1982. Mr. Skoog is director of The Chicago Arabic Music Ensemble, and has given demonstrations and clinics at the University of Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee), Northwestern University, Valparaiso University, Vandercook College, Kansas State University, Colorado State University, Illinois Wesleyen University, the Nashville Jazz Workshop, Millikin University, College of DuPage, and the PAS Illinois Day of Percussion, as well as hundreds of presentations in grade- and high- schools through the International Music Foundation. He was lead artist for the Gallery 37 Latin Big Band from 1993 to 2002, and has traveled to Cuba many times to study and conduct tours. He has published magazine articles in English and Arabic, and is author of Batá Drumming; The Instruments, and the People Who Play Them.