Monti Ellison
Senior Lecturer, Dance, College of Communication and Fine Arts | Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA, UNITED STATES
Lecturer of Dance
Biography
Monti Ellison is an accomplished percussionist/drummer, composer and performer. He has performed worldwide as a soloist with Harry Belafonte, Stephanie Mills, Lonnie Liston Smith, Little Steven and others. As a dance musician, he spent 15 years at the Alvin Ailey School in New York, where he was head staff musician.
Currently Monti is a faculty member and accompanist at Loyola Marymount University, CSU, Long Beach, Orange Coast College and The Wooden Floor (formerly St. Joseph Ballet) where he teaches West African dance and drumming. Monti has composed numerous scores including Judith Jamison’s Divining for the Alvin Ailey company, percussion score for the New York based Urban Arts Corps’ production of Alice in Wonderland directed by Vinette Carroll and choreographed by Talley Beatty; J5A6Z7Z8 for jazz choreographer Jose Meier; Riptide, FOIL/Copper; Zinc, Brass, Dat’s Right, Espiritu, Stroke of the Oarsmen, Deciduous Dances, Chugarump and Wade for Rhapsody in Taps plus many compositions for the Monti Ellison Percussion Ensemble.
