Jonathan Haas is an American

timpanist Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...

' '' Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Orchestra'' was commissioned for him by several orchestras.

Early life

Haas was born circa 1955, raised in Glencoe, Illinois, where his father was CEO of Sealy Posturepedic. After studying liberal arts - including percussion lesions - at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University i ...

, he trained at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most ...

. While at St. Louis, he played with the St. Louis Symphony, and joined an

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percu ...

tour, opening each show by playing the

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used i ...

part of

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

's ''

Boléro ''Boléro'' is a 1928 work for large orchestra by French composer Maurice Ravel. At least one observer has called it Ravel's most famous composition. It was also one of his last completed works before illness forced him into retirement. Co ...

'', alone in a spotlight. After Juilliard, he joined the

Charlotte Symphony Orchestra The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Charlotte, North Carolina. As the largest and most active professional performing arts organization in the central Carolinas , the Charlotte Symphony plays approximately 100 perfo ...

. After a self-funded, solo timpani recital at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1980, he accepted an invitation to join the

New York Chamber Symphony The New York Chamber Symphony (NYCS) was an American chamber orchestra based in New York City. It was active from 1977 to 2002. It was founded in 1977 by its founding music director Gerard Schwarz, and Omus Hirshbein. Its original name was the Y Ch ...

Glass concerto

The '' Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Orchestra'' was commissioned from

for Haas by the

American Symphony Orchestra The American Symphony Orchestra is a New York City, New York-based American orchestra founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski whose mission is to demystify orchestral music and make it accessible and affordable for all audiences. Leon Botstein is th ...

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The orchestra performs primarily at the Bradley Symphony Center in Allen-Bradley Hall. The orchestra also serves as the orchestra for Florentine ...

Peabody Symphony Orchestra The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869 ...

Phoenix Symphony The Phoenix Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Phoenix, Arizona. The orchestra performs primarily at Phoenix Symphony Hall, and is the only full-time, professional orchestra in the state of Arizona. History Founded in 1947, the ...

and

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is the second-oldest professional symphony or ...

, jointly. Haas had first suggested the idea of a timpani concerto to Glass almost a decade earlier. Haas performed the world premiere of the concerto on November 19, 2000, at New York's

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

with Svetoslav Stoyanovby and the

conducted by

Leon Botstein Leon Botstein (born December 14, 1946 in Zürich, Switzerland) is a Swiss-American conductor, educator, and scholar serving as the President of Bard College. Biography 1946–1975: Early life, education, and career Botstein was born in Zü ...

. He has performed national premieres of the work and recorded it in 2004 with

Evelyn Glennie Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, (born 19 July 1965) is a Scottish percussionist. She was selected as one of the two laureates for the Polar Music Prize of 2015. Early life Glennie was born in Methlick, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. The indig ...

and the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

conducted by

Gerard Schwarz Gerard Schwarz (born August 19, 1947), also known as Gerry Schwarz or Jerry Schwarz, is an American symphony conductor and trumpeter. As of 2019, Schwarz serves as the Artistic and Music Director of Palm Beach Symphony and the Director of Orches ...

as part of Glass' '' Concerto Project''. He has also performed versions arranged for chamber orchestra and for wind ensemble.

18th Century Concertos

Haas is the soloist on all three pieces on the Sunset Records' CD ''18th Century Concertos for Timpani and Orchestra'': * ''Symphony for Eight Timpani and Orchestra'' - Johann Fischer * ''Partita In C Major'' -

Georg Druschetzky Jiří Družecký (german: Georg Druschetzky, also known as Giorgio Druschetzky, also Druzechi, Druzecky, Druschetzki, Držecky, Truschetzki; 7 April 1745, Jemníky – 21 June 1819, Budapest) was a Czech composer, oboist, and timpanist. Life an ...

* ''Concerto For Oboe, Eight Timpani and Orchestra'' - Georg Druschetzky These were made with the

Bournemouth Sinfonietta The Bournemouth Sinfonietta was a chamber orchestra founded in 1968 as an offshoot of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. It was disbanded in November 1999 after increasing difficulties in obtaining funding from local councils led to the decisio ...

, conducted by Harold Farberman and released in 2002.

Jazz and rock

Haas also performs and records as part of his own

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

ensemble, 'Johnny H. and the Prisoners of Swing', whose eponymous CD was released in 2000. Haas formed the group after studying the work of 1920s jazz tympanist

Vic Berton Vic Berton (born Victor Cohen; May 7, 1896 – December 26, 1951) was an American jazz drummer. Berton was born, Victor Cohen, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. His father was a violinist and began his son on string instruments around age five ...

, and being given the scores of works for tympani and jazz orchestra by the sister of their composer,

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

. He also has a heavy metal band 'Clozshave'.

Other work

Haas is the Director of Instrumental Performance and Percussion Studies at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

(NYU), as well as the co-director of the NYU Orchestra Program. He teaches the Percussion Program at the Juilliard Pre-College, and on the faculty at the

Aspen Music Festival and School The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a European classical music, classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music stud ...

. Previously, Haas taught at the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–186 ...

. He performs with the

American Composers Orchestra The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including: * Zankel Hall at ...

All-Star Orchestra All-Star Orchestra is an orchestral music project created by Gerard Schwarz, former music director and conductor laureate of Seattle Symphony. It is a television and DVD project, filmed by 18 high definition video cameras without an audience for ...

New York Pops The New York Pops is the largest independent pops orchestra in the United States, and the only professional symphonic orchestra in New York City specializing in popular music. Led by Music Director Steven Reineke, the orchestra performs an ann ...

, and the

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra The New Jersey Symphony, formerly the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, is an American symphony orchestra based in the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Symphony is the state orchestra of New Jersey, performing classical subscription concert serie ...

. Haas played on the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-winning

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of A ...

tribute album '' Zappa's Universe'', and played percussion on

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

's ''

Mystery Tracks – Archives Vol. 3 ''Mystery Tracks – Archives Vol. 3'' is the third in a series of discs by guitarist Steve Vai collecting unreleased tracks, demo recordings and other bits. The track Speeding is a playable song in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, although it is a ...

''. He is also the owner of Gemini Music Productions, contracting musicians for the New York Pops,

Mostly Mozart Festival The Mostly Mozart Festival is an American classical music festival based in New York City. Venues The festival presents concerts with its resident ensemble, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, principally at David Geffen Hall of the Lincoln C ...

, All-Star Orchestra,

Westchester Philharmonic The Westchester Philharmonic is a professional symphony orchestra based in Westchester County, New York, United States. The orchestra performs in the concert hall of the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College. The orchestra was founded in 198 ...

, and others.

Personal life

Haas has three daughters from his first marriage, and has since remarried, to Anna Kepe.

References

External links

*
NYU faculty member page

Performance of the Glass concerto with the BBC, Part I

Performance of the Glass concerto with the BBC, Part II

Performance of the Glass concerto with the BBC, Part III
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haas, Jonathan Timpanists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) People from Westchester County, New York People from Glencoe, Illinois