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.

Drums in Chicago

My Musical Career| Part Sixty-Seven

Have Drums, Will Travel – How I managed to get around with my drums The subtitle for this entire blog site is called “Have Drums, Will Travel. It is a tip of the hat to an old western entitled “Have Gun, Will Travel”, which starred the actor Richard Boone as “Paladin”. Eighteen or so years …

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My Musical Career | Part Sixty-Six

The DMMO Years – The 2003 Season The 2002 summer festival was blockbuster, with three big productions back-to-back. Normally, one would expect that after such a season, the programming would be more conservative, especially with the expenses of the previous festival in mind. However, that was not the case with the 2003 Festival season, another …

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My Musical Career| Part Sixty-Five

The Des Moines Metro Opera YearsThe Eventful 2002 Season The 2002 DMMO Summer Festival was one of those memorable seasons for more reasons than one. First, musically it was a blockbuster season. Three fantastic productions, all full of challenge. For this season, Dr. Larsen and the management decided to stage Puccini’s Turandot; Richard Strauss’s Salome; …

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Blank Performing Arts Center

My Musical Career | Part Sixty-Four

The DMMO Years The 2001 Season The 2001 DMMO Summer Festival season was among the most memorable of my nineteen seasons with the company. For two reasons. First, the repertory was extraordinary. Dr. Larsen had chosen the repertory with care. In January 2001, the company presented an off-season production of Puccini’s La Boheme, which is …

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