About
David Herbert is currently The Clinton Family Fund Principal Timpani Chair of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a post he has held since July 2013 after being appointed by
Music Director Riccardo Muti. Prior to joining the CSO, he served as principal
timpanist of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) and the New World Symphony. He is
widely considered a leader of cutting-edge solo timpani repertoire,
accomplishing many commissions and world premiere performances every year.
Herbert has been featured as a guest artist at many of North
America's premier ensembles including the Pittsburgh Symphony and St. Louis
Symphony; with the latter orchestra he made his professional solo debut after
winning its young artist competition in 1991. Since then, he has appeared as
timpani concerto soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, Shanghai Symphony,
Sun Valley Summer Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, and the New World
Symphony, with which he made his Lincoln Center debut with Michael Tilson
Thomas conducting. He performed the world premiere of William Kraft’s Grand
Encounter Timpani Concerto No. 2 in 2005 with the San Francisco Symphony, a
commission written specifically for him and in October of 2013, he performed
and recorded this concerto with the Symphony of Silicon Valley. With the SFS,
he has performed as soloist in Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Organ and
Percussion, William Kraft’s Timpani Concerto No. 1 and Michael Tilson Thomas’s
Island Music.
Herbert is sought after as a chamber musician and clinician
around the world and has conducted master classes throughout North America,
Japan, China, and Europe. He was a featured clinician at the Percussive Arts
Society International Convention in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007 and is an
Adjunct Professor of Percussion at DePaul University. He
has taught at the Boston Conservatory, the Music Academy of the West, and
frequently at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan as an international
principal percussion instructor, where he also performs chamber music with
principal players of the world‘s premier ensembles. Herbert is also a published author.
Herbert began piano studies with his parents, both
professional pianists. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the St. Louis
Conservatory of Music and a master’s degree in percussion performance from The
Juilliard School, where he was a scholarship student of Roland Kohloff.
Highlights of his early career include performing under Leonard Bernstein’s
direction as a Tanglewood Music Fellow and with Lorin Maazel as principal
timpanist for an extensive European tour with the Schleswig-Holstein Music
Festival Orchestra. Lately, he has enjoyed a varied performance schedule
including performances and recordings with the heavy metal rock band Metallica,
an international tour with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, numerous principal
timpani appearances with the Kozerthausorchester Berlin and also as a special
guest artist with the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra in Osaka, Japan.
Since 2007, he has performed as principal timpanist with the Aspen Festival
Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Learn more on the Percussion Studio Page