About Trey Files

Trey Files' diverse interests have led him to work with an eclectic array of ensembles and musicians.  As a member of Ethos Percussion Group, he has performed contemporary and world music at many of the country’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Krannert Center, Hancher Auditorium and the Herbst Theater.  During his fifteen years with Ethos, the ensemble has commissioned over twenty works for percussion quartet, released four CD’s and collaborated with Glen Velez, Pandit Samir Chatterjee, Simon Shaheen, Colorado String Quartet, Lark Chamber Artists, Bernard Woma and the Kansas City Symphony.  Trey has also performed and/or recorded contemporary music with Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, New Music Consort and the Michael Gordon Band.

His extensive work in commercial and avant-garde theater includes a three-year stint as music supervisor for off-Broadway's De La Guarda and two years as drummer/associate conductor for Spring Awakening, a Broadway musical that won 8 TONY Awards (including Best Musical and Best Score).  He recently completed a year-long run as the drummer for American Idiot on Broadway, which featured music from Green Day’s multi-platinum album of the same name.  Trey is also co-artistic director of 2nd Species, a collective of aerialists and musicians that has performed for audiences in New York and Los Angeles and for corporate clients such as Diesel Fashion, ESPN and Red Bull. 

A committed educator who enjoys working with students at all levels, Trey is currently an Adjunct Artist in Music at Vassar College, an Adjunct Lecturer at the Aaron Copland School of Music (Queens College, CUNY) and an Adjunct Lecturer and Artist-in-Residence (with Ethos) at Lehman College.  He directed the percussion ensemble at La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts (the “Fame” school) from 2002-2009, and has worked with hundreds of elementary school students throughout New York City as a Young Audiences New York teaching artist since 1999.  Trey has presented workshops for the New York chapter of the Percussive Arts Society, professional development sessions for music teachers employed by the New York City Department of Education, and dozens of clinics and master classes with Ethos at institutions including The Julliard School, Eastman School of Music and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention.

His discography includes the Grammy Award-winning Cast Albums for Spring Awakening and American Idiot, as well as releases on the Decca/UMG, Reprise, Newport Classics, Koch International, Traditional Crossroads and Victory labels.  Trey’s first solo recording, of composer Dan Levitan’s Eight Inventions, was released in early 2009.  His national television appearances include The Late Show with David Letterman (twice), Good Morning America, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, the live national broadcast of the TONY Awards (2007 and 2010), and the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards.  A rock drummer at heart, Trey happily spent much of his youth touring the US and Europe with several bands you've never heard of and making records for indie and major labels which very few people bought.

Trey earned performance degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University (Texas) and Manhattan School of Music, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from City University of New York.  His non-Western music studies include the drumming of Guinea, West Africa and the marimba tradition of Chiapas, Mexico.

Click here for a current CV (January 2012)