by Lauren Vogel Weiss

Kalman Cherry, longtime timpanist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (1958–2009), died on March 24, 2025 at the age of 87.

“I don’t believe that Kalman Cherry ever received enough credit for the musician and timpanist that he was,” stated Doug Howard, former Principal Percussionist with the DSO, who played alongside Cherry for over three decades. “I learned so much from him, and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to work with him for 34 years.”

Kalman “Kal” Cherry was born on April 9, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began playing the snare drum at age seven. His first teacher was Gabriel Arra, a freelance percussionist in Philadelphia, followed by Joe Huttlin, a vaudeville theater player. His third, and most influential, teacher was Fred D. Hinger, Principal Timpanist with the Philadelphia Orchestra (from 1951 until he left to join the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 1967).

“I remember going to the Philadelphia Orchestra concerts every Saturday night, and I was very impressed with what I heard, especially the timpani playing,” Cherry said in a 2010 interview. “I rarely heard any finesse of that type on timpani before. I went backstage after one of the concerts and asked if I could study privately with him.” Once Cherry graduated from high school, he continued to study with Hinger at the Curtis Institute of Music, where Kal received a diploma in 1958, and for more than half a century was a very visible disciple of the famed “Hinger style” of timpani playing.

Russell Hartenberger, Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto and a founding member of Nexus, was also a student of Hinger at Curtis. “Kal was Mr. Hinger’s star pupil,” Hartenberger recalled. “Mr. Hinger often talked about Kal and how he tried to imitate and emulate his teacher in every way. One time, Mr. Hinger got new shoes with a heavy tread on the soles, so his feet could grip the timpani pedals better. Kal noticed the shoes at a concert — he must have had binoculars! — and showed up for his next lesson with the same shoes!”

William L. “Bill” Cahn, longtime percussionist with the Rochester Philharmonic and another founding member of Nexus, remembered his percussion friend from Philadelphia. “Back in the 1960s, Kal and I would often sit next to each other at the summer concerts of the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Robin Hood Dell [now the Dell Music Center]. Together we watched, listened, and gawked at everything Hinger played.”

Howard shared more background on the young Cherry. “I heard he was first in his Solfege class at Curtis, and I doubt many percussionists can say that! Kal was very focused on timpani sound, phrasing, and colors. He often used heavier sticks, with more padding, than other timpanists used, and he said that instead of always relying on a harder mallet to achieve the articulations he wanted, he preferred to do it with his hands.”

Kal Cherry described his audition for the DSO, which he joined in 1958. “I was still a student at Curtis,” Cherry said. “I had auditioned for several of the military bands in the Washington, D.C. area, but nothing ever came of that. One night, my teacher [Hinger] called me at home and asked if I would like to audition for the Dallas Symphony the next day!

 “There wasn’t even time to develop the proper level of anxiety,” continued Cherry. “So I went down to the Academy of Music [where the Philadelphia Orchestra performed] and played on my teacher’s timpani for Donald Johanos, who was the assistant conductor of the Dallas Symphony at that time. Johanos was traveling around the country, listening to different people, and he must have liked what he heard because a couple of weeks later a contract came in the mail!”

Over the decades, Cherry played under the batons of hundreds of conductors, but still remembered his first one. “Paul Kletzki was one of my favorites. On the first program that I ever rehearsed with him, we played Brahms’ First Symphony, among other pieces. We played through the introduction, and he stopped for something in the strings. Then he looked back at me and said, ‘Bravo timpani!’ So we got along very well,” Cherry remembered with a smile.

Kletzki was succeeded by Sir George Solti. “That was a very different approach,” Cherry explained. “Very high pressure, lots of tension.” Numerous conductors followed at the helm of the Dallas Symphony: Johanos, Anshel Brusilow, Max Rudolf, Louis Lane, Eduardo Mata, and Andrew Litton, to name a few. “One of my favorites,” Cherry added, “was Gunther Herbig, one of our Principal Guest Conductors.”

Kal Cherry even wrote a short poem expressing his thoughts (and wry sense of humor) about the people he’d seen on the podium:

“Conductors come, conductors go,
How many are there? I don’t know.
Among them all, a few excel,
The rest of them can go to hell!”

Although his list of favorite conductors may be short, Cherry’s list of favorite repertoire was longer. “All the Brahms symphonies, of course,” he stated. “And the Brahms ‘Requiem.’ Plus a lot of Russian music, because my father was born in Russia. Pieces like Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Scheherezade’… there are so many. Also the music of Sibelius, especially his Seventh Symphony.”

Cherry also fondly recalled several of the popular entertainers who played with the orchestra during pops concerts over the years. “People like Jack Benny, Steve Allen, and the incomparable Henry Mancini.”

Doug Howard remembered a concert from the 1975 season. “Early in my first year in Dallas, we were rehearsing Tchaikovsky’s ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ Near the end of the overture, there was a big solo timpani roll, molto crescendo from piano to fortissimo on a B natural. When Kal reached the top of the crescendo, my chair was vibrating, and I could feel the floor under my feet vibrating! I had never heard a timpanist move so much air, and I’ll never forget that sound. I should add that I had been in the orchestra for at least three or four years before I ever heard Kal make even a small mistake in a rehearsal or concert!”

In addition to playing for over five decades with the Dallas Symphony, Cherry sat on the audition committees for all the other percussionists who were in the orchestra during his last season: Ron Snider, Doug Howard, and Dan Florio. Cherry also served for many years on the  Board of Governors of the Dallas Symphony Association.

Cherry also influenced several generations of young timpanists, teaching timpani at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts for 52 years (1958–2010) and the University of North Texas, as well as private students.

Dan C. Armstrong, Professor of Percussion Emeritus at Penn State University, remembered the first lesson he took with Cherry in 1973. “He was polite but had an intimidating air about him. Eager to make a career as an orchestral timpanist myself, I was quite anxious to make a good impression, so I played a few Goodman etudes for him, and he said nothing. I finally asked, ‘Mr. Cherry, what did you think?’ He looked me in the eye and replied, ‘Well, you still have time to change your mind.’ Needless to say, I was crushed. Years later, I reminded him of this encounter and he explained, ‘What I meant was that you had what it took, but you needed to make sure that it was what you really wanted.’ That misunderstanding made me more determined than ever! And I have also given the same advice to many of my own students over the years, who are, after all, Kal’s grandstudents!”

Armstrong also shared an amusing anecdote about his former teacher’s opinion of conductors. “Kal Cherry did not suffer fools. Or, even more so, bad conductors. With guest conductors, he ‘telegraphed’ his opinion of them to the rest of the orchestra by how high or low he set his music stand. If he liked them, he set his stand high so that he could watch them well, but I didn’t see that very often! If his opinion of the maestro was low, his stand would be set low so that he didn’t have to look at them! One of my favorite ‘Kal quotes’ is: ‘Maestro, should I keep a steady beat or just follow you?’”

Deborah Mashburn, Principal Timpanist of The Dallas Opera, remembered her longtime teacher, colleague, and friend. “I owe my career to Kalman Cherry. He gave me my first professional playing opportunities in Dallas, where I often sat next to him on stage. He even had me play second timpani and sub for him on some concerts and recordings. When I insisted I wasn’t ready for such an elite opportunity, he disagreed.

“My greatest lessons and learning opportunities occurred while watching and listening to him in rehearsals and concerts,” she continued. “He made everything look easy and effortless and played with such musicality and elegance. I am forever indebted.”

Tom Maloy, former percussionist with “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, commented about his former teacher on social media. “I loved watching and hearing his magic touch on the French repertoire. Mr. Cherry taught me how to be a musician. His humor, kindness, and patience with me have been a lifelong blessing. Mr. Cherry changed my life.”

Andrew Simco, former Timpanist with the Oslo Philharmonic, posted his thoughts. “I never had the opportunity to meet him, but hearing [Kal Cherry’s] recordings made me understand why Hinger spoke so highly of him. Cherry’s musicality is legendary.”

Hartenberger will be thinking of his friend during an upcoming performance of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.” “During my first or second year at Curtis, Kal came back to town to play a freelance performance of ‘Carmina Burana.’ He hired Ed Schneck and me to play percussion while he played timpani. I don’t know how he did it, but Kal arranged the piece so Ed and I could play as many of the percussion parts as possible with only two players.”

Cherry was also involved with PAS. For seven years, he served as the editor of the “Focus on Timpani” column for Percussive Notes magazine. Cherry presented a clinic at PASIC ’82 in Dallas, where he also served as an adjudicator for the Mock Symphony Timpani auditions, as well as at PASIC ’90 in his hometown of Philadelphia.

In 2008, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra honored Kalman Cherry as he celebrated his 50th season with the orchestra. The mayor of Dallas read a proclamation recognizing Cherry as one of the nation’s leading timpanists. In 2009, the DSO’s longest-serving timpanist retired.

After 51 seasons, did he miss the DSO? “I miss playing,” Cherry said in 2010. “But I don’t miss the stress and the tension.  Sometimes I lie in bed at night and music goes through my head.”

How did he want to be remembered by Dallas audiences? “I gave it my best and I hope it gave pleasure to a lot of people,” Cherry replied. “More than pleasure… I hope they found it uplifting.”

Author’s Note: I had the privilege of studying with Kal Cherry during my sophomore year at SMU, as well as playing on the same stage with him at numerous Dallas Symphony concerts. And thanks to him, I have the honor of being one of Mr. Hinger’s “grandstudents”!