World-renowned percussionist Nathan Daughtrey will be on campus all week hosting workshops for music students, and concerts for everyone.

For his first public event of the week, Daughtrey will perform his compositions alongside WSU’s Symphonic Band and Symphonic Wind Ensemble. The concert is free to attend and will take place Thursday at 8 p.m. in Bryan Hall.

“(Daughtrey) was originally just a performer, but he got into composition, people asked for more and suddenly a composer was born,” said David Jarvis, coordinator of percussion studies at WSU.

During the concert, Chris Nelson, a graduate student studying conducting, will premiere his band arrangement of Daughtrey’s piece, “Legacy.”

Nelson said he played the original “Legacy” during his first concert at WSU, and wanted to bring his time in Pullman full circle by conducting his own arrangement of it during one of his final concerts on campus.

“I tried to mimic what Daughtrey has done in his band compositions, but it’s always necessary to put a bit of yourself into the music as well,” Nelson said.

Nelson worked closely with Daughtrey to arrange the piece as part of his master’s thesis, and Daughtrey himself will be serving as a member on Nelson’s thesis board.

“That’s the equivalent of writing an in-depth analysis of someone’s book and having the author there,” said Danh Pham, WSU’s Director of Bands.

Daughtrey’s solo work will be highlighted Friday when he performs a free concert at 8 p.m. in Kimbrough Hall.

Daughtrey will play mostly solo pieces during the guest recital, but the Percussion Ensemble will join him for the finale.

“I’ve seen very few pieces that demand of percussionists what Nathan Daughtrey’s music demands,” Nelson said.

Pham called Daughtrey a “legitimate superstar of a performer,” and said he was one of a handful of solo percussionists in the world.

“He makes his bones as a percussionist,” Pham said. “It’s a very unusual profession. That can’t be emphasized enough.”

When he’s not performing in the concerts, Daughtrey will be working with students on their musical skills, as well as offering them insights into his own compositions.

“The times I’ve had really top-notch percussionists here, the students are all lit up. It’s like they’re walking on air,” Jarvis said.

The professors said that as the semester wound down they were already beginning to plan for next year’s concerts and guest artists.

“In Pullman, you can’t just plan to go see the orchestra every week, but I think we make up for that with the talent we bring here,” Nelson said.