2017

LA Philharmonic percussionist, composer, educator dies at 82. ENCINITAS (Oct. 28, 2017) – Mitchell Peters, a prodigious composer, recording artist, music professor, and former principal timpanist and percussionist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, died today in Encinitas at the age of 82. Mr. Peters joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as its co-principal percussionist in…

Clyde Stubblefield, known for his work with James Brown, died on February 17 of kidney failure. He was 73 years old. Stubblefield was born in Chattanooga, Tenn. In 1943 and had lived in Madison, Wis. since the early 1970s. He toured with Otis Redding before joining Brown in 1965, where he played alongside drummer John…

Margaret “Willi” Zildjian, co-founder of the Sabian Cymbal Company with her husband, Robert Zildjian (whom she married in 1951), and mother of current Sabian president Andy Zildjian, died on February 14, 2017. When Sabian was founded in 1981, she came up with the name, based on the first two letters of the names of her…

Michael Quinn, well known for his distinguished career as percussionist and timpanist in the USA and abroad, died on Jan. 21, 2017 at his home in Switzerland with his family after a long illness. His many years performing included percussion positions with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Germany. He…