Christopher Lamb
Grammy Award–winning percussionist Christopher Lamb has been hailed as a dynamic and versatile performer. Having joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Percussionist in 1985, The Constance R. Hoguet Friends of the Philharmonic Chair, he subsequently made his solo debut with the orchestra in the world premiere of Joseph Schwantner’s Percussion Concerto, one of several commissions celebrating the Philharmonic’s 150th anniversary. He has since performed the work to critical acclaim with orchestras throughout the United States and in 2011 won a Grammy for Best Classical Instrumental Soloist for his recording of Schwantner’s Percussion Concerto with the Nashville Symphony. Mr. Lamb also gave the world premiere of Tan Dun’s Concerto for Water Percussion, a second work commissioned for him by the New York Philharmonic, which he performed to rave reviews on the Philharmonic’s tour to South America, as well as in Asia and Europe with such notable orchestras as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. In the United States, he has performed the work with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, and the Pacific Symphony. Kurt Masur, New York Philharmonic Music Director Emeritus, selected Mr. Lamb’s performance of Tan Dun’s Concerto for Water Percussion for release in the orchestra’s collection of recordings highlighting his tenure as Music Director. The third commission for Mr. Lamb by the New York Philharmonic, Susan Botti’s Echo Tempo for Soprano, Percussion, and Orchestra, was given its world premiere by Ms. Botti, Mr. Lamb, and the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Mr. Masur.
A member of the Manhattan School of Music faculty since 1989, Christopher Lamb has led clinics and master classes throughout the United States and on almost every continent. In 1999 he was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholars Award to lecture and conduct research in Australia. During his five-month residency at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, he presented master classes and seminars titled “A Comprehensive Examination of Orchestral Percussion,” which has grown into a model for the art of teaching percussion. In 2010 Mr. Lamb was invited to join the faculty of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as an international fellow.
Mr. Lamb has recorded chamber works on the New World, Cala, and CRI labels, and his Grammy Award–winning performance of Schwantner’s Percussion Concerto is available on the Nonesuch label. Christopher Lamb is a former member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Buffalo Philharmonic and a graduate of the Eastman School of Music.
Erik Charlston
Percussionist Erik Charlston, a native of Chicago, has a diverse career centered in New York where he performs regularly with the New York Philharmonic, with Encores at City Center, and on film soundtracks from Disney’s Aladdin to the recent Noah and The Hundred-Foot Journey. A frequent performer on Broadway in The Lion King and A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, he has also played extensively with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Mostly Mozart, Moscow’s Moiseyev Dance Company, the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra and as soloist on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. As a jazz artist, he has performed and recorded with such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Fred Hersch, Steve Coleman, Sam Rivers, Dave Brubeck, and Orlando Puntilla Rios. He has performed with Sting, Billy Joel, and Elton John at Carnegie Hall, and played with Metallica at Madison Square Garden with St. Luke’s. Along with Bill Frisell, Gil Goldstein, Marty Ehrlich, and Greg Cohen, he has interpreted the music of the great film composer Bernard Herrmann in London with the BBC Symphony, in France with the Orchestre National de Lyon and most recently with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
His own group JazzBrasil has a new CD entitled Essentially Hermeto, featuring the music of the great Hermeto Pascoal. Recording credits include radio, television, films, and record labels such as Sony, Gramavision, Telarc, EMI, Newport Classics, Nonesuch, and French Antilles. Outside New York, he has performed chamber music throughout Europe and Japan, and, with the New York Philharmonic, has toured widely throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Charlston received degrees from the University of Iowa, with a double major in voice and percussion, and from the Juilliard School, where he was the recipient of the Saul Goodman Award. He is has been a faculty member at Manhattan School of Music since 1993.
Jeffrey Milarsky
Acclaimed conductor Jeffrey Milarsky, the recipient of the 2013 Ditson Conductor’s Award for the advancement of American music, is known worldwide for his impeccable musicianship and innovative programming. Artistic Director and Conductor of the Percussion Ensemble at Manhattan School of Music, he was cited for his “brilliant accomplishments as a conductor of contemporary music” and “commitment to educating young performers in the contemporary repertoire.” Mr. Milarsky recently conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony and this season will debut with the New York Philharmonic. A dedicated teacher, he is also a Senior Lecturer in Music at Columbia University, where he is the Music Director and Conductor of the Columbia University Orchestra, and the Music Director of the Juilliard School’s contemporary music ensemble AXIOM. In addition, he conducts the Juilliard Orchestra and serves on the conducting faculty at Juilliard. A much-in-demand timpanist and percussionist, Mr. Milarsky has performed and recorded with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony, among other ensembles, and has been Principal Timpanist for the Santa Fe Opera since 2005. He has recorded extensively for Angel, Bridge, Teldec, Telarc, New World, CRI, MusicMasters, EMI, Koch, and London records. Mr. Milarsky received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding leadership and achievement in the arts.
Duncan Patton
Duncan Patton is a principal timpanist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and a member of the percussion faculty at Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Patton has performed with the MET Orchestra on tour in Europe, Japan, across the U.S., and in New York's Carnegie Hall. He can be heard on radio and television broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera, as well as on recordings on Deutsche Grammophon, Sony, and Decca. He has performed chamber music with the Met Chamber Ensemble, the Percussionists of the Met Opera, the Empire Brass, the New Renaissance Chamber Artists, and the Manhattan Percussion Ensemble. As a clinician and soloist, he has given presentations at the Percussive Arts Society international convention, state PAS chapters, the Oberlin Percussion Institute, and the International Week of Percussion in Mexico City. His articles on timpani performance have been published in Percussive Notes. He is also a composer of works for percussion, and his music has been heard in New York, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Hartford, Mexico City, and other cities.
Prior to joining the Met, Mr. Patton was principal timpanist of the Honolulu Symphony and performed with the Colorado Philharmonic and the Albany Symphony. An Albany, New York, native, He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, and was a student of John Beck and Roland Kohloff. He has been a member of the Manhattan School of Music faculty since 1989.
She-e Wu
Bio coming soon.
