John Tanzer

John Tanzer joined the Portland Symphony Orchestra as Principal Timpanist in the fall of 1999. Originally from New York City, he grew up in Bedford, Massachusetts. He attended the New England Conservatory of Music and graduated with honors in performance. His teachers included Everett Beale, Everett Firth, and William Hudgins.

At the New England Conservatory, John was awarded the Tourjée Alumni Award and was selected to be a member of an exchange program with the Toho Gakuen School in Tokyo. John was a two-time Tanglewood Music Center Fellow and attended the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in Germany. He was a guest timpanist with the New World Symphony for their 10th anniversary tour of Europe.

When not performing with the PSO, John works as both a timpanist and percussionist. He performs frequently as an extra player with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, and the Boston Lyric Opera. He also performs with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and can be seen at the Hatch Shell for the July 4th concerts.

John is both an educational and artistic endorser for Vic Firth Drumsticks and Grover Pro Percussion.