LEADERSHIP

Raynor Carroll held the titles of Co-Principal Timpani and Principal Percussion with the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1983 until his retirement in 2016. In his 33-year career with the Philharmonic, Mr. Carroll performed and recorded with such conductors as: Leonard Bernstein, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sir Simon Rattle, and Gustavo Dudamel. Mr. Carroll has also recorded a number of motion picture soundtracks for Hollywood studios over the years. He can be heard on Disney’s 2019 Lion King, several Spike Lee movies including BlacKkKlansman, and most recently Jognic Bontemps score for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

Mr. Carroll performs regularly with the Sphinx Symphony, a unique all Black and Latinx orchestra comprised of top professionals from around the country. Mr. Carroll also performs with the Chineke! Orchestra, Europe’s first professional orchestra to be made up of Black and minority ethnic musicians.

In addition to performing, Mr. Carroll is an active teacher/clinician. Institutions where he has taught include: California State University Los Angeles (where he studied with Mitchell Peters), University of Southern California, and University of California Los Angeles.

Mr. Carroll is the founder/owner of Batterie Music, a publishing company specializing in music for the symphonic percussionist. Mr. Carroll’s sponsors include Black Swamp, Remo, and Sabian.

Visit Raynor Carroll’s web site: Batterie Music

Timothy Adams, Jr. is the Mildred Goodrum Heyward Professor at the University of Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music, where he was named Chair of Percussion in Fall 2010. Prior to this, Mr. Adams performed as Principal Timpanist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for fifteen years while teaching as Professor of Music at Carnegie Mellon University.

Adams received both his Bachelors and Masters degrees at the Cleveland Institute of Music under Cloyd Duff, Richard Weiner, and Paul Yancich of the Cleveland Orchestra. He has held Percussion and Principal Timpanist positions with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, and others.

Mr. Adams has performed under the batons of Lorin Maazel, Pierre Boulez, Manfred Honeck, Sir André Previn, Christoph von Dohnanyi, and many others. Adams has performed alongside Luciano Pavarotti, Jessye Norman, Andre Watts, Yo-Yo Ma, Renee Fleming, Emanuel Ax, Lynn Harrell, Lang Lang, Midori, Pinchas Zukerman, Patti Austin, Chaka Kahn, Arturo Sandoval, Bobby McFerrin, Terence Blanchard, Dave Brubeck, Marcus Roberts, Burt Bacharach, and more.

Adams currently lives in Athens with his wife, Kimberly Toscano Adams, their son and 3 dogs.

Douglas Cardwell is the former Principal Timpanist with the New Mexico Philharmonic (NMP). He has been a featured soloist with the NMP performing Johann Carl Fischer’s Symphony with Eight Obbligato Timpani. He is also the Principal Timpanist of the National Sphinx Orchestra. Along with these appointments he performs with Santa Fe Pro Musica, Performance Santa Fe, and Chatter Chamber group. Prior to joining the NMP he was a Fellowship recipient with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with which he performed, recorded, and toured internationally. Other accomplishments include performances with the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra in Italy and an international tour with the American-Russian Orchestra. As founder of the jazz quartet, After Five, he also owns a percussion studio in Albuquerque, where he teaches privately. Douglas Cardwell is a Pearl/Adams, REMO, & Freer Percussion sponsored Concert Artists and performs on Adams Philharmonic Dresden Classic Timpani supported in part by a Sphinx MPower Artist grant.

Visit Douglas Cardwell’s web site: dcpercussion.com

Michael Crusoe held the title of Principal Timpanist with the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Opera from September 1980 until his retirement in July of 2017. During his tenure, Mr. Crusoe was also a guest timpanist with the Oregon Symphony, San Francisco Opera, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Crusoe was Principal Timpanist for the Mostly Mozart Festival in 1991 and 1992, and is currently Principal Timpanist with the Teton Music Festival, a title he has held since 2010.

In addition to the concert hall, Mr. Crusoe can be heard on many motion picture and studio soundtracks, including: Die Hard, Highlander, Omen2, Columbus 1492, Lake Placid, Mr. Hollands Opus, Stargate, Switchback, and The Office.

Mr. Crusoe taught at the Waterloo Music Festival in July of 1991 and 1993 and was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Washington from September 1991 to January 2017.

Jauvon Gilliam was named principal timpanist of the National Symphony Orchestra in 2009. He is also timpanist of the All-Star Orchestra, a made-for-PBS group comprised of players from orchestras across the United States.

As a guest, Gilliam has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He was also timpanist of the Bear Valley Music Festival for three seasons.

As an educator, Gilliam has taught clinics at universities and institutions across Canada and the United States, including the Aspen Music Festival and School, Interlochen Arts Academy, New World Symphony, and at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. He is currently Co-Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Maryland, co-founder of the annual Washburgh Timpani Seminar and is a timpani coach for the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America. His former students are currently performing in orchestras and teaching in high schools and universities across the United States and Canada.

Jauvon is a proud artist/clinician for Remo Drumheads, Yamaha Musical Instruments, Sabian Cymbals, and Innovative Percussion.

Visit Jauvon Gilliam’s Kennedy Center artist page: Kennedy-Center

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Josh Jones started hitting things at age two and received his first drum set at age three. Josh began his formal studies in percussion with the Percussion Scholarship Program under the direction of Chicago Symphony member Patricia Dash, and Chicago Lyric Opera member Douglas Waddell. He earned his Bachelor’s in Music from DePaul School of Music and was the orchestra fellow of both the Detroit and Pittsburgh Symphonies. In 2020, Josh joined the Kansas City Symphony as Principal Percussionist. Josh has been featured at Carnegie Hall, on radio and television, and has had two short documentaries made about his musical development and experience. He also authored a percussion method book series, Spatial Studies for Hitting Things, and writes musical and philosophical blogs on his Website, drummojo.com. Josh really enjoys giving back to the community as well as mentoring young musicians and traveling.

Professor Johnny Lee Lane (“Prof Lane”) is one of the nation’s foremost college percussion educators. Prof Lane has taught at Tennessee State University (1972-1974), Eastern Illinois University (1974-2002), Indiana University (2002-2005), and is currently teaching at Butler University. Prof Lane’s students are college teachers, performers, and educators throughout the world.

In 1979, Prof Lane was elected to the Percussive Arts Society Board of Directors where he served for nearly ten years. In the 1980s he toured Germany and most recently gave clinics/workshops in South Korea and Japan.

For 13 years, Prof Lane was the host/founder of the United States Percussion Camp; a complete percussion camp with over 300 students and 37 faculty members. Prof Lane led the 2004 Tournament of Roses Parade, playing the world’s tallest drum, and is the former Director of Education at Remo (2005-2018).

Prof Lane received the Percussive Arts Society’s Lifetime Achievement in Education Award in 2007 and in 2019 was inducted into the Conn-Selmer Institute Hall of Fame.

Prof Lane has coauthored several publications including: Four Mallet Independence for Marimba, Rudimental Snare Drum Grooves, and Hand Drum Trios. Prof conducts clinics around the country for Zildjian, Remo, Vic Firth, and Ludwig/Musser.