Ted Atkatz auditioned and won a position as Section Percussion with the Chicago Symphony in 1997. He became the orchestra’s Assistant Timpanist in 1999, and in 2001, he auditioned for the CSO’s Principal Percussion position. He won. During that time he formed a band, called NYCO, that featured him as the lead singer and songwriter. In 2006, Ted left the CSO to devote his energies to NYCO, however, he continued to teach privately and perform with orchestras around the world. To date, Ted has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, and the Santa Barbara Symphony.

Jonathan Bisesi has held the position of Percussionist with the “President’s Own” United States Marine Band since May 2004. He has been a featured soloist with the Marine Band on multiple occasions, most notably on the Filene Center stage at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in 2011 & 2016, and the “President’s Own” 2011 & 2017 National Concert Tours. Other performance work through the Marine Band includes numerous chamber percussion performances, most notably at the 2008 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Austin, Texas, Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, Luzerne Music Center, University of Maryland Percussion Seminar, and The Manhattan School of Music, as well as countless master classes at universities and high schools across the nation.

Samuel Chan is a versatile percussionist who has performed frequently in United States, Europe, and Asia. He is top prize winner in numerous competitions, including Percussive Arts Society International Solo Percussion Competition, Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition, Great Plains Marimba Competition, and Hong Kong Young Musician of the Year Competition. A native of Hong Kong, Samuel began studying percussion at age 6. After graduating from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, he moved to the United States to continue his studies. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from New England Conservatory and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School. His teachers include Ted Atkatz, Dan Druckman, Frank Epstein, Markus Rhoten, Sophia Woo and Greg Zuber.

Renee Keller, a native of Rochester, NY, is an active percussionist and teacher based in Lima, OH. She currently holds the position of Principal Timpanist/Percussionist of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus.  She has previously held positions as Principal Percussionist of the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Percussionist with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Percussionist with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and Percussionist with the Lakes Area Music Festival in Brainerd, MN.  She has performed with a number of orchestras around the country including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.

Equally at home with orchestral, solo, and chamber music, Dr. Matthew McClung has performed with a wide variety of prestigious ensembles throughout the United States. He has performed with the Houston Grand Opera, the Hawaii Opera Theater, and the symphony orchestras of Phoenix, Hong Kong, Houston and Honolulu. As a chamber musician, he has performed with the Percussion Group Cincinnati, the Tierkreis Percussion Ensemble, the So Percussion Group and Strike 3 Percussion. An active performer of contemporary music, Dr. McClung recorded Arthur Gottshalk's "Stations" for solo percussion and tape in 2001, as part of an ASCAP-funded project to commemorate the composer's works. He has also recorded the works of John Luther Adams, Martin Bresnick, Larry Austin, Charles Ives, and more. Currently, Dr. McClung is the Principal Percussionist of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra and the Glimmerglass Opera Festival.

Eric Millstein is a percussionist with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He frequently plays with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was principal percussionist/assistant timpanist of the Grant Park Music Festival from 2002-2019. Eric has been a faculty member of the DePaul University School of Music since 2004, and he joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2014. He has presented clinics at the Percussive Arts
Society International Convention and has given classes at a variety of schools and festivals, including Tanglewood Music Center, Interlochen Arts Academy, and the New World Symphony.

Matt Prendergast has been Principal Percussionist of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra since 2009.  He began his classical training at the Boston Conservatory with former Principal Timpanist of Detroit, Sal Rabbio, Boston Pops Percussionist, Patrick Hollenbeck and renowned marimba soloist, Nancy Zeltsman.  Mr. Prendergast went on to get his Master’s degree in orchestral performance at the Manhattan School of Music with former Principal Timpanist of the Metropolitan Opera, Duncan Patton and Principal Percussionist of the New York Philharmonic, Chris Lamb. While studying in New York, Matt won a position with the Huntsville Symphony just before settling in Malaysia in 2009.

Matt has performed as guest Principal Percussionist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen.  In 2015, Matt performed the Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra by Joseph Schwantner with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Shaun joined the Phoenix Symphony as Principal Percussion in November of 2013. He began his studies at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he earned a bachelor’s degree. He went on to study with Ted Atkatz at DePaul University in Chicago, while also performing with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Shaun has performed with orchestras all over the world, including the Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, Philharmonia (London), Houston Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, and many others. In 2016, riding the success of his snare drum method book ‘The Regimen’, Shaun founded a music publication company called Pocket Publications.  With 20 publications and growing, Pocket Publications has quickly established itself as an innovator in the industry.  Shaun’s compositions have premiered all over the world, including the USA, Canada, Netherlands, Spain, Germany and Norway.

Jose Uzcategui is a percussionist and composer born and raised in Venezuela. He began his
percussion studies at the age of eight in La Orquesta Sinfónica de Ciudad Guayana and La
Academia Latinoamericana de Percusión, where he took lessons with Victor Villarroel. He
received a Bachelor’s degree at California State University, Long Beach where he studied with
Ted Atkatz for four years. Performing his own compositions, arrangements, and transcriptions,
Jose has won several music scholarships, including the top award from the College of the Arts at
CSULB and a scholarship from the Latin Grammy Foundation. Currently, Jose is pursuing a Master of Music in Percussion Performance with George Nickson at Southern Methodist University.