Have you ever heard a concerto for timpani? Well, how about a concerto for eight timpani, performed by one musician? For the GRS Masterworks concerts on March 21 and 22, GRSMA timpanist Dan Karas will be the featured soloist in a Concerto for Eight Timpani and Orchestra. 

 

You might think that this is a modern piece, filled with special techniques. What if we told you that this piece is 240 years old? 

 

Composed in 1785 by German composer and oboist Johann Carl Christian Fischer (1733-1800), this Concerto for Eight Timpani was intended for much smaller instruments. The size of the timpani in the 18th century was about half the size that it is today, as they were originally played outdoors and carried on foot or horseback. 

 

Dan will get a workout in maneuvering around the setup of eight modern-day timpani for these concerts in DeVos Performance Hall. In Fischer's day, the smaller instruments could be arranged in a full circle. As we fast forward to the present day, Dan's setup will require him to travel the distance. To perform this Concerto for Eight Timpani requires both athleticism and agility, and Dan is up to the task at hand.

 

Not only is Dan the Principal Timpanist of the Grand Rapids Symphony, he is also Principal Timpanist of the Grant Park Orchestra, which performs exclusively in the summers at Chicago's Millennium Park. Actually, there is a strong connection between these two orchestras! During Nikolai Malko's tenure as Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony (1942-47), he became the first Principal Conductor of the Grant Park Orchestra when it formed in 1944. It is good to know that there is still a connection between Grand Rapids and Grant Park today.

 

You won't want to miss this rare opportunity to hear a historic piece for timpani in Grand Rapids! We wish our GRSMA colleague Dan Karas well as he relocates to the front of the orchestra for this special occasion. https://www.grsymphony.org/mahler