Ted Atkatz Percussion Seminar Program Director

Percussion

Former Principal Percussionist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Edward (Ted) Atkatz has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and the Santa Barbara Symphony. Now residing in Los Angeles, Ted is a studio musician as well as a performer in both the orchestral world and with his band, NYCO. Ted is an active teacher and clinician: he joined the faculty at the Bob Cole Conservatory at California State University at Long Beach in 2014, and is also on faculty at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California; and the Texas Music Festival in Houston, Texas. He has given clinics and masterclasses worldwide, and has been a three-time PASIC clinician.

Ted began his studies at age 10 at the Bloomingdale House of Music in New York City and later attended the preparatory division at Manhattan School of Music. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance and Music Education, magna cum laude, from Boston University. His graduate studies were at the New England Conservatory of Music and at Temple University, where he worked with Alan Abel of the Philadelphia Orchestra. An avid long-distance runner, Mr. Atkatz ran the Chicago Marathon in 2001 with a time of 2:59:32, and ran the Santa Barbara Marathon in 2012 with a time of 3:09:34.