Orchestral percussionists?

jesse1322

Member
Are there any orchestral percussionists around here?

I've been looking for a forum just for orchestral percussionists for talking about equipment and music. I've got no luck though.. So, I thought i'd just check here!

Are there any other orchestral percussionists out there!?
 
Yes. I have been playing orchestral literature since college (1970) and have been playing with the same community orchestra for over 25 years. I am the principal (by attrition) and the tympanist. I'd be glad to discuss equipment and music with you.
 
One right here! Haven't played much orchestral rep (other than etudes and just running through pieces) since college though.
 
i was principal with the new york city symphony for 4 years a couple lifetimes ago.

but flag your stuff as classical or something, so we see it.

i'm a big fan of innovative percussion, but not exclusively.
 
Played a season with my local orchestra on some auxilliary stuff.
 
Played suspended cymbal for my school's orchestra once. Had a moment during the performance where I was going, oh crap oh crap shes signalling me not the guy next to me. I missed the entire measure. I still feel like shes pissed at me for it some days.
 
Very cool! I honestly didn't expect too many responses, but this is great!

What kind of rep have you played? Any play chamber rep? Solo work? Ensemble?

Snare, marimba, vibes, multi?

I'm in college, and I don't really have too many people (13 or so people in our perc. Studio here) to talk to about rep and stuff.
 
I play in the same school band as kyle. Iv been playing in band for years. Mostly Tympani, I also enjoy some accessory and Mallet work.
 
Largely a drum set player, but I do a lot of musical theatre work that requires me to take an orchestral approach now and again. I studied with some orchestral guys as well. As I was just saying in another thread, I'd love to see some less drumset-centric talk around here. Looks like we have a quorum! Let's roll!
 
i was taking marimba-lessons during the last semester. beneath learning accompaniment for simple music, i did things like "waves" by mitchell peters and the bach-inventio 1.
next semester we gonna do snare drum and toms.
so i'm pretty new to that stuff but it's very interesting and i like to work with my teacher (she studied guitar and then percussion and now writes quite challenging stuff)
 
I'm actively playing in two orchestras. I have a concert coming up in two weeks, we're doing Pictures At An Exhibition, along with some other pieces. I can't wait for the performance, as I'm doing all the cymbal work. I've also looked for a classical forum.
 
i was taking marimba-lessons during the last semester. beneath learning accompaniment for simple music, i did things like "waves" by mitchell peters and the bach- inventio 1

Very cool, I heard someone working on the peters piece last semester.. you should continue to develop your four mallet skills!

As I was just saying in another thread, I'd love to see some less drumset-centric talk around here. Looks like we have a quorum! Let's roll!

Yeah, I agree! I hardly play any drum set. It's definitely not my favorite aspect of percussion.. I think it would be great if there was a section of this forum just for non-drumset drumming or something!
 
Very cool! I honestly didn't expect too many responses, but this is great!

What kind of rep have you played? Any play chamber rep? Solo work? Ensemble?

Snare, marimba, vibes, multi?

I'm in college, and I don't really have too many people (13 or so people in our perc. Studio here) to talk to about rep and stuff.

So, lets start talking about it.

The community orchestra in which I play is performing Mendelsshon's Reformation Symphony (#5) the end of Feb. and first of March (two concerts). I am the tympanist. The soloist for the second half of the concert is a singer from the School of Music Theater singing pop and show tunes including:

Begin the Beguine
They can't Take that away from me
Joey,Joey,Joey,
My Funny Valentine
Get Happy
This Could be the Start of Something Big

I will cover drum set in a rythem section with the orchestra. We haven't had a full rehearsal yet, but I think I'll probably use the available drum set(s) (two different venues) and bring my own cymbals and snare. There should be a lot of brush work, I use Regal Jeff Hamilton series. There will also be orchestra percussion, probably vibes or marimba, and, of coursse, some Latin "toys" on "Beguine. "Joey, Joey, Joey" is the only one with which I am not familier.

The soloist, Vince Lesenny, is very good. I've worked with him before in other venues. Looking forward to it. In addition to teaching, he does a lot of professional theater.

Whare are you in school? Do you have any upcoming concerts? Do you have any repertoire, yet? Lets have a discussion.
 
The last marimba-specific piece I learned was Polaris, like a year ago. Other than that, it's learning parts or learning non-marimba-specific tunes. Haven't worked on any timpani parts for a while, besides for musicals and Easter services. It would be fun to get some percussionists together to work up some Hollinden pieces, I've always thought. I played "The Whole Toy Laid Down" for my senior recital, and heard "Surface Tension" from a colleague that year, too. Good writing!
 
Interesting, you're playing my funny valentine! Last night I went to see a men's a capella group from LA, and they sang my funny valentine, which I wasn't familiar with before that concert.

Last semester some of the rep I did was Gordon Stout's Two Mexican Dances for Marimba (I only learned the first).. that was the biggest piece of solo rep, which I ended up liking a lot! In ensemble, we did a marimba and percussion ensemble concerto by David Gillingham.. Layers by Lynn Glassock.. Cenas Brasilieras by New Rosauro, which isn't a very popular piece, but I liked it quite a bit and it's just for a quartet.. I also played on quartet for 12 tom toms by John Cage.. it's a cage piece.. if you like cage, you may like it.. I couldn't tell ya! That's the mass of what I played on!

So far this semester i've been working on The Beast which is a marimba piece by Steven Mackey.. the name really does explain it all in this case! I'm not a fan.. and i've been working on American Suite by Guy Gauthreaux.. very fun snare solo with 5 distinct movements, but it is pretty tough! I've got music for Katamiya by Emmanuel Sejourne coming in tomorrow, which i'm VERY excited about! Also, in ensemble we're playing Universe by Nenae Mimura, i'm just playing a good ol' chime part though.. we're playing this really cool piece called Square Dance, a marimba quartet, by Takayoshi Yoshioka.. a monstrous multi percussion quartet, The Doomsday Machine by Michael Burritt..

I know i'm missing a bunch of our music in this list, but i'll be surprised if anyone is interested in reading all that I have listed as is!
 
Interesting, you're playing my funny valentine! Last night I went to see a men's a capella group from LA, and they sang my funny valentine, which I wasn't familiar with before that concert.

I also played on quartet for 12 tom toms by John Cage.. it's a cage piece.. if you like cage, you may like it.. I couldn't tell ya! That's the mass of what I played on!

"Valenntine" is a great tune. It's been around a while. I think it should e played more often and not Just in February (for obvious reasons)

Back in the 60's in college I got the chance to play on an all John Cage concert. Have you ever played water gong? It's a blast. The key is finding a small enough gong to fit in a large enough tub of water.
 
Back in the 60's in college I got the chance to play on an all John Cage concert. Have you ever played water gong? It's a blast. The key is finding a small enough gong to fit in a large enough tub of water.

Man, that must have been SOME concert! I doubt I would enjoy that one very much.. i'll have to look that piece up sometime though!
 
Strange to say the least. My old college percussion instructor was a big Cage fan. We did this in a theate converted from an old warehouse. It was called the Warehouse Theater (duh). Most of my collegues didn't enjjoy it much, but I had a lot of fun. Sorry, I'm rambling.
 
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