Mell Csicsila is a musician performing and teaching in Northeast Ohio and wherever else the music needs him. He has performed in the United States and Germany and his experiences run the gamut from performing concert percussion and timpani with orchestras in five states including the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Red {an orchestra}, and the Cleveland Orchestra to drumset and mallets in world fusion concerts with master artists like South Indian percussion virtuoso Umayalpuram Sivarama, Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai, and Eastern European and Klezmer groups to performances with small combos and dance bands. Mr. Csicsila is a regular performer in the pit orchestras of Cleveland’s Playhouse Square, where he has performed with the national tours of many Broadway shows, including: "Wicked," "The Producers," "Ragtime," and "Parade." He has taken the stage to support artists as diverse as Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Steve and Eydie, Aretha Franklin, The Moody Blues, Yes, Kansas, the Three Irish Tenors, Collin Raye, and Charo. Mr. Csicsila has made over one hundred performances as a percussion soloist performing both serious concert literature and novelty and ragtime pieces.

Mr. Csicsila holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music from Cleveland State University, and has pursued additional graduate study at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He received his orchestral training from the percussion section of the Cleveland Orchestra, has studied drumset with George Lawrence and Bob McKee, and has explored South Indian and World Music hand percussion techniques as well.

As a conductor, Mell has led the Lakewood Hometown Band and Canton Concert Band, and was the assistant conductor of the Kent Stark Concert Band and "All-Ohio" State Fair Band for several years.

In addition to his performance credits, Mr. Csicsila is an active teacher and clinician, and has been on faculty at Cuyahoga Community College’s Western Campus in Parma, Ohio since 1995. He has presented clinic sessions for members of the Percussive Arts Society and the Ohio Music Education Association and develops and presents special educational projects for the Cleveland Orchestra and other arts organizations.

Mell's Curriculum Vitae can be found HERE.