Musician profiles are in alphabetical order.

My musical life began in 1975 when I chose to play the French horn because it had an interesting shape to the tubing. As most infatuations with tubing shapes go, mine was relatively short lived, and in 1977 I switched to percussion. This infatuation stuck (or struck) and I feel fortunate to make a living striking objects, thinking about striking objects and teaching others to strike objects. I have performed extensively around the globe as a soloist and chamber musician and can be heard on numerous CDs of contemporary chamber music. I have published two original compositions and a percussion method book with significant percussion publishing houses. In addition to my interest in the Western music tradition, I regularly study and perform music from Brazil, Cub and the Middle East. I moved to Madison in 1999 to teach percussion at the UW-Madison School of Music and joined the MSO the same year. I am married to Jessica Johnson (Associate Professor of Piano Pedagogy at UW-Madison) and we have one out-spoken daughter named Maggie.

Noteworthy: B.M. Oberlin 1983; M.M. Juilliard 1986; Principal Timpanist, Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI (Torino, Italy) 1987-92; first call substitute for Jacksonville (FL) Symphony. Currently living in the Minneapolis area, working as a database administrator. Oddest practice quarters: A beach along the Adriatic coast of Italy. Funniest concert experience: During a 4th of July performance of Copland's A Lincoln Portrait in Denver, the then-governor of Colorado was concert narrator and committed a very bad "Freudian slip." The orchestra literally missed several beats because we were all doubled over laughing. What your colleagues don't know about you: I was born in Anchorage, Alaska, entered college as a piano major, and speak-admittedly somewhat rusty-Italian.

Noteworthy: BS in Natural Resource Management from Ohio State University, minor in Music; I have my own marketing consulting firm and chair the MSO marketing committee. Oddest practice quarters: Ohio State Percussion Ensemble rehearsed in the back of a moving van. Funniest concert experience: At a university percussion ensemble performance, a piece ended with me shooting another player with a blank gun and dragging him off stage feet first. Recurrent musical fantasy: Playing with my three sons in a stadium rock concert.