Karl Ronneburg

Percussion

Karl is a dual German-American citizen who grew up in the Seattle area, after which he went to the University of Michigan for his Bachelor's in Percussion Performance and completed his Master's Degree in Music Composition at the Mannes School of Music in New York City with Missy Mazzoli.

Some of the coolest things (in his opinion) that he’s done so far are: 

-Working at the Metropolitan Opera as the Dramaturgy/Opera Commissioning Associate (where he is currently employed!).

-Working with Meredith Monk, including performing as a percussionist in INDRA'S NET at the Park Avenue Armory in 2024 and in the lead role of the Dictator in Quarry at the University of Michigan in 2017.​

-Teaching percussion, drums, and theory/composition at Sing Sing Correctional Facility with the nonprofit Musicambia and Carnegie Hall's Musical Connections Program.

-Co-founding Fifth Wall Performing Arts with collaborators Grey Grant and Maya Johnson, which so far has produced a full adaptation of Phillip Glass and Robert Wilson's Einstein on the Beach in Karl’s living room; Michigan and New York premieres of Grey’s folk-opera, Michigan Trees: a Guide to the Trees of Michigan and the Great Lakes Region (for which Karl served as Dramaturg, Director, and Music Director); the yearly FLUXUS FEST series; Black Hearts, Black Voices, Maya Johnson’s audio storytelling show about love and Blackness; and the Michigan and NYC premieres of Karl's The Precipice, a 100-minute chamber-rock opera about irreversible change.