Born October 29, 1960 in Cleveland, Ohio, Eugene Dominic Novotney received his Bachelor of Music Degree in Percussion from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and his Master of Music Degree & Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the University of Illinois with emphasis in Percussion, Composition, and Ethnomusicology.

In addition to his formal music degrees, he has also studied traditional folkloric percussion idioms at the Oficina de Investigacao Musical (Salvador, Brazil), the Academy of African Music and Art (Kokrobete, Ghana), the Dagara Music Center (Media, Ghana), and the National Theatre of Ghana (Accra, Ghana). He has studied Classical Percussion techniques with Richard Weiner, Bill Youhass, Allen Otte, and Thomas Siwe; Composition with Herbert Brün, Ben Johnston, and Morgan Powell; Electronic Music with Jonathan Kramer and Scott Wyatt; Anlo-Ewe Drumming with C.K. Ladzekpo & Bernard Woma; Brazilian Percussion with Ze Riciardo Sousa; and Afro-Cuban Percussion with David Penalosa, Sandy Perez, and Regino Jiminez.

He has been a member of the South Dakota Symphony, the Sioux City Iowa Symphony, the Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Sinfonia da Camera, and the Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, and has served on the faculty of the University of Illinois and the University of South Dakota. Presently, he is Associate Professor of Music at California State University-Humboldt, and is the founder and statewide coordinator of the ‘Percussion in World Music’ program for the California State University Summer Arts Program. He was the first percussionist to win the Krannert Center's Debut Soloist Competition, and has been awarded the Edgard Varese Percussion Award from the University of Illinois and the Meritorious Performance and Professional Promise Award from the California State University system.

He is a member of the Percussive Arts Society’s “New Music/Research Committee,” and has organized and coordinated numerous workshops and performances for the P.A.S. International Convention. He is the founder of the Humboldt Calypso Band of Arcata, California, and the I-Pan Steel Groove of Urbana, Illinois, and has performed in Trinidad’s National Panorama Competition as a member of both the Hummingbird Pan Groove of St. James and the Phase II Pan Groove of Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain.

In addition, he has served as a representative and adjudicator for PanTrinbago, the national governing body for the advancement of folkloric music in Trinidad & Tobago. Most notably, he was one of four scholars to adjudicate Trinidad’s World Steelband Festivals in 1998 & 2000, and also, represented North America on the adjudication panel of the 2000 European Steelband Festival held in Paris, France. His recordings have been released on the Bembe, Delos, SANCH, Pogo, Rituals and Earthbeat (Rhino) labels, and his compositions and arrangements have been performed internationally. His works are available through Smith Publications of Baltimore, Maryland and Panyard Publications of Akron, Ohio.