Have Drums, Will Travel!

 

Have Drums, Will Travel!

At the Concertgebouw

At the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, 1996

Welcome to Kettledrummer.com! This is the personal website of yours truly, Andrew P. Simco. With over forty-five years of experience as a timpanist, percussionist, educator, and clinician, I have had a lot of fun during my career. Having performed with many fine ensembles such as the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Owensboro Symphony Orchestra, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra, the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, the Elmhurst and Elgin Symphony Orchestras as well as the Lake George Opera and the Des Moines Metro Opera Festival, and since 2016 with the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra, I have indeed been very fortunate. Note the subtitle. This is an affectionate tip of the hat to an old TV western that starred the actor Richard Boone, called “Have Gun, Will Travel.” Having been freelancing and hauling timpani from one gig to another over the nineteen years, I kind of feel like the character Paladin from that show.
This website is designed not only to let you know who I am and what I have done and am currently up to but to talk about the timpani and related matters. It is an exciting profession, and I am still having a blast after all these years. The site will be built around a series of blog posts – and I hope that as they are posted that you will read and enjoy them.

My Musical Career | Part Seventy-Six

The DMMO Years The 2012 Summer Season It seems that after the 2011 summer season ended, and the fall and spring seasons proceeded, it was once again time for yet another DMMO Summer Festival. This time, it was the 2012 festival, and in its organization, this one followed the general outline of the previous seasons., …

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Blank Performing Arts Center

My Musical Career| Part Seventy-Five

The DMMO Years The 2011 Summer Season The 2010 Summer Festival was a great success, and an excellent test of the team that would pick up the baton of leadership from Dr. Robert L. Larsen. Dr. Larsen was one of the co-founders of the Des Moines Metro Opera (the other being the late Douglas Duncan, …

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My Musical Career | Part Seventy-Four

The DMMO Years The 2010 Summer Season A Time of Transition The 2010 summer season was a time of transition for the company. It was this season that Dr. Robert L. Larsen began transitioning out of active leadership of the company, which he co-founded with the late Douglas Duncan in 1973. Up to and including …

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My Musical Career | Part Seventy-Three

The DMMO Years The 2009 Summer Season The 2009 summer season was one of the most interesting and at the same time, one of the most poignant of my tenure with the orchestra. Most interesting because of the repertoire, which included three operas, but what three operas! First out of the gate was Puccini’s “Tosca“, …

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