Timpani or kettledrums are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. Thus timpani are an example of kettle drums, also known as vessel drums and semispherical drums, whose body is similar to a section of a sphere whose cut conforms the head. Most modern timpani are pedal timpani and can be tuned quickly and accurately to specific pitches by skilled players through the use of a movable foot-pedal. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet. Timpani evolved from military drums to become a staple of the classical orchestra by the last third of the 18th century. Today, they are used in many types of ensembles, including concert bands, marching bands, orchestras, and even in some rock bands.
William Kraft was an American composer, conductor, teacher, timpanist, and percussionist.
John Harris Harbison is an American composer, known for his symphonies, operas, and large choral works.
Frederick Fennell was an American conductor and one of the primary figures which promoted the Eastman Wind Ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the US and abroad. In Fennell's New York Times obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin was quoted as saying "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa."
John Marcellus is a trombone musician and teacher. He was Professor of Trombone at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, and past Chair of the Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion Department. In addition to his trombone teaching responsibilities at Eastman, Dr. Marcellus was the conductor of the Eastman Trombone Choir, Eastman Bionic Bones, and the trombonist with the Eastman Brass. Dr. Marcellus joined the faculty of the Eastman School in 1978, and was named the Kilbourn Professor from 1982-83. He succeeded the trombonist and teacher, Emory Remington, who served as Professor of Trombone at Eastman close to 50 years. Professor Marcellus retired in 2014 after 36 years at Eastman.
Peter Donohoe CBE is an English classical pianist.
John Harvey Wyre was a U.S.-born Canadian percussionist, composer, and music educator. He worked as percussionist with a number of important orchestras in North America, notably serving for many years as the principal timpanist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He was a founding member of the percussion ensemble Nexus, with which he performed for over 30 years. He was also Artistic Director of World Drums with whom he organized and directed performances at several major international events. His music compositions have been performed by ensembles throughout the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the CBC Radio Orchestra, and the Japan Philharmonic among others.
Tim Genis is an American timpanist. He is the principal timpanist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2003. He was the assistant timpanist of the BSO from 1993 to 2003 and the associate timpanist and assistant principal percussionist of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra from 1991 to 1993. He was also previously the assistant principal percussionist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic.
Robert Marcellus was an American classical clarinetist and teacher. Marcellus is best known for his long tenure as principal clarinetist of the Cleveland Orchestra.
Brett Mitchell is an American conductor, composer, and pianist. He began a three-year term as Artistic Director & Conductor of the Sunriver Music Festival in August 2022. He previously served as music director of the Colorado Symphony from 2017 to 2021, Associate Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra from 2013 to 2017, Assistant Conductor of the Orchestre National de France from 2006 to 2009, Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony from 2007 to 2011, Music Director of the Moores Opera Center in Houston from 2012 to 2013, and Music Director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra from 2010 to 2015.
Anthony McGill is the principal clarinetist for the New York Philharmonic, after having served for a decade as principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
Louis Gardner Lane was an American conductor. He was born in Eagle Pass, Texas. He studied composition with Kent Kennan at the University of Texas at Austin where he earned his bachelor's in music degree in 1943, and with Bohuslav Martinů at the Tanglewood Music Center, and with Bernard Rogers at the Eastman School of Music. He also studied opera with Sarah Caldwell (1950).
Joseph Gramley is an American multi-percussionist, teacher and composer, and a founding member of the Silk Road Ensemble. As a solo performer he each year commissions and premieres new works from such emerging composers as Kojiro Umezaki and Justin Messina. His first solo recording, American Deconstruction, featuring performances of five milestone works in multi-percussion's modern repertoire, appeared in 2000 and was reissued in 2006. His second CD, Global Percussion, was released in 2005.
Daniel William McCarthy is an American composer, author, conductor, professor, and black belt martial artist. He has been Professor and Chair of Music Composition and Theory Studies at The University of Akron: School of Music and held the Theodor Dreiser Distinguished Research/Creativity Award at Indiana State University School of Music. He is co-author of "Theory for Today's Musician" with Ralph Turek, published by Routledge Francis & Taylor, NYC? His career as a conductor included serving on the conducting staff of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, four seasons as Music Director of the Interlochen Festival Orchestra, Interlochen, Michigan, as well as conducting the University of Akron Symphony Orchestra and the Terre Haute Symphony Youth Orchestra. McCarthy, a dedicated martial artist, was promoted to 3rd Degree Black Belt in Chun Ma Tae Kwon Do in May 2012. A student of Grand Master Jeon Gyeong Ho, Akron, Ohio, he pursued additional studies in Asian Weapons, American Kenpo, and Chin Na Kung Fu with Grand Master Sifu James Adkins in Traverse City, Michigan.
Orchestral Works by Tomas Svoboda is a classical music album by the Oregon Symphony under the artistic direction of James DePreist, released by the record label Albany in 2003. The album was recorded at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon during three performances in January and June 2000. It contains three works by Tomáš Svoboda, a Czech-American composer who taught at Portland State University for more than 25 years: Overture of the Season, Op. 89; Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra, Op. 148; and Symphony No. 1, Op. 20. The album's executive producers were Peter Kermani, Susan Bush, and Mark B. Rulison; Blanton Alspaugh served as the recording producer.
Michael Alden Bayard is an American percussionist, drummer, composer, recording artist, music lecturer, and author. A graduate of the Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Division and the Curtis Institute of Music who made his Carnegie Hall debut at age 16, Bayard has performed percussion and timpani under numerous conductors. As a percussion soloist, he served with the Sacramento Symphony as the principal percussionist for 17 years and has been featured with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Queens Symphony, Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Stockton Symphony, and Santa Rosa Symphony. Bayard currently performs with Grammy award-winning Mary Youngblood.
Tatsuo Sasaki is a timpanist, percussionist, xylophonist and marimbist. He became a naturalized American citizen and lives in San Diego, California.
Stanley Sprenger Leonard is a timpanist, composer and educator who has been active in the percussion world for over seventy years. While Principal Timpanist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for 38 years (1956-1994), he performed internationally with the symphony in concerts, television productions, and recordings." The Christian Science Monitor claimed, "...his performance of the solo part establishes him as perhaps the finest timpanist in the country." As a solo artist, he premiered several major new works for solo timpani and orchestra with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In a review of "Celebrations—An Overture for Timpani and Orchestra," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said, "Leonard played it superbly, imparting a singing line to this most unvocal instrument." In 2010, he was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame, where they summed up his musical contribution: "Leonard has left an indelible musical footprint for musicians, especially percussionists." He is currently resident timpanist, composer, was handbell director at Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church, Naples, Florida, and continues to compose and teach master classes.
Morris Goldenberg was an American percussionist, music teacher, and method book author. He wrote several books on orchestral snare drumming, mallet percussion, and timpani. He is a member of the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.
Timothy K. Adams Jr. is the Mildred Goodrum Heyward Professor at the University of Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music. Prior to joining the faculty, he was the Principal Timpani with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
