Studio Visit appears first in print, in Sunday editions of The News-Gazette. Here, Melissa Merli visits with percussionist Ricardo Flores. In the Feb. 5 newspaper, we'll have a visit with elizaBeth Simpson, a consultant, artist and musician.

Q: I love it when you play with Dorothy Martirano's Almost A. Will you play with them more often?

A: Yes, whenever they can use me. The band was just a quartet for a while, and they wanted percussion, so they called me. I just take a bag of "toys" and have fun.

Q: How long have you been at the University of Illinois School of Music?

A: Since 2000. This is my first college teaching job.

Q: What were you doing before you came here?

A: Freelance gigging. I grew up in south Texas and went to graduate school in Ohio at the University of Akron, and I've gigged ever since. I just played music wherever as I was going to undergraduate and graduate school. I actually started playing professionally when I was 16. After grad school, I stayed in northeast Ohio for 10 years, and I met a girl (Amy, now his wife) who was a cellist. She got a job with the Naples (Florida) Philharmonic, and we moved down there. I started breaking into the scene down there. I did that for two to five years, and then a guy I knew who was getting a DMA here called and said, "There's a job here with your name on it." I said, "I think I'll send my resume and see how it goes." They hired me.

Q: What's your title, and what ensembles do you direct here?

A: Associate professor. I direct the Steel Band/World Percussion Ensemble. We do mostly steel band music, but I try to incorporate world percussion during the fall semester. A few years ago, I helped found the Latin Jazz Ensemble.

Q: Do you play with any ensembles outside the university besides Almost A?

A: I'm principal percussionist with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony and Sinfonia da Camera, playing orchestral music. I play with a samba group, Samba Soul. ... When I was freelancing, I did a lot of jazz and pop, and now I'm doing more orchestral. But whenever anyone calls and I'm available, I'd rather do more jazz and pop shows.

Q: I noticed in your bio that you've performed with some big names like Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett, Vernon Reid and Arturo Sandoval.

A: I've done a lot of shows. I can't say I was on the road with these people, but whenever they came to northeast Ohio, I'd play in their backup groups. Aretha played at the Rubber Bowl (stadium) in Akron, and that was a lot of fun. But that was a one-time thing. I've got (Luciano) Pavarotti on my bio, too; that was a one-time thing.

Q: When and why did you start playing percussion?

A: Probably when I was really young, in sixth grade. I started in beginner band. My family all played in bands. I was always interested in drumming and beating on stuff. I'd listen to the radio and play along with it on pots and pans around my knees or on the table. I decided to go to college to study it.

Q: You specialize in Latin percussion and drum set, right?

A: Yes, I would say those are my specialties. Part of the reason I was hired here was they wanted to round out the program. Universities have to do that now, and percussionists have to play everything. There's a lot of competition out there.

Q: And you've taught master classes and clinics in the United States and abroad.

A: Yes. I've played at two percussion festivals in Poland, in Warsaw and Zagan. The China thing happened right before I got this gig. I went over with Paragon, the faculty brass quintet from the University of Akron. I used to play with them, and they asked me to join them. That was something else. We toured the Yangtze River right before they built the big dam.