Brian Simpson, Timpani
chair sponsored by Brian Bonner and Ashley Ferry
Vacaville, CA
What made you want to be a musician?
As a child I was always beating my parent's copper-bottomed RevereWear with ladles. One Christmas at the age of 4 I received a toy drum set which I coveted, adored, and absolutely no one else could play but me. Not long after, I saw lots of girls screaming for the Beatles and I thought drumming was my ticket for that particular train.
Favorite genre of music?
Jazz
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not rehearsing or performing?
I'm a drum/percussion nerd and enjoy collecting and learning new percussion instruments to some measured consternation on my wife's behalf. "Oh dear, another drum has arrived on the door step. Who knew?!"
What’s it like to perform onstage with an orchestra?
It can be both the most exuberant, fabulous, wonderful thing in the world and the most nerve wracking, as well. My job as a timpanist is to support bass lines and play solo lines, fitting in with surgical precision, with a great deal of measures rest in between. Making sure one is always 'in the moment' is key.
Best advice you’ve ever received?
"Keep busy and don't quit", my teacher and mentor Larry Blackshere.