About Mark
Mark C. Yancich
timpanist, publisher, teacher, clinician
Principal Timpanist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra since 1981, Mark Yancich is also active as a clinician, chamber musician, soloist, music publisher and on the percussion faculty at Emory University. He annually hosts the Mark Yancich Timpani Class each January, as well as the 20-year run of The Atlanta Percussion (TAP) Seminar founded in 1990. Mr. Yancich has also taught and performed at the Aspen Music Festival and can be heard on over 120 recordings with the Atlanta Symphony, including most of the great choral/orchestral repertoire with Robert Shaw conducting.
He began his classical percussion studies at the age of fourteen with percussionists Bill and Ruth Cahn of the Rochester Philharmonic, and studied jazz drumset with Vincent Ruggiero in his hometown of Rochester, New York. Later he went on to earn his Bachelor of Music degree, studying timpani and percussion with Cleveland Orchestra principals Cloyd Duff and Richard Weiner at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Prior to assuming his position in Atlanta, he was timpanist and principal percussionist of orchestras in Maracaibo and Caracas, Venezuela, as well as in the Lake Placid (NY) Sinfonietta. While in Lake Placid, he was also fortunate to study with Saul Goodman of the New York Philharmonic.
Mark is featured on the performance video/DVD of the recital version of James Oliverio's "Timpani Concerto #1," and can also be seen on the “Art of Timpani” educational videos entitled, "Changing and Tuning Plastic Timpani Heads with Mark Yancich," "Tucking Calfskin Timpani Heads with Cloyd Duff," and "Sewing Felt Timpani Sticks."
Mr. Yancich and Dr. Steve Hemphill (head of the percussion department at NAU) jointly presented a class at the 2003 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Mark was also a clinician at the 1996 PASIC and part of a panel presentation at the 2011 PASIC discussing his experience with the past generation of "Genesis Teachers" including William Street, Saul Goodman, Fred Hinger, Vic Firth and Cloyd Duff.
Mark was a guest clinician at the 2004 Oberlin Percussion Institute and in October, 2004 gave the first "Internet 2" timpani masterclass from the Digital Worlds Institute on James Oliverio’s Timpani Concerto #1. In the fall of 2004 Mark and his brother Paul Yancich (timpanist of the Cleveland Orchestra) also performed Bartok's Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion in recital at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Mark performed the Phillip Glass "Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists" with David Morris as guest artists of the Macon Symphony Orchestra (2006) and the Albany Symphony Orchestra (2008). Also included on those concerts was the world premiere of a new 2 1/2 minute piece by James Oliverio entitled "EnCORE!", also for two players.
In December of 2009 Mr. Yancich presented a timpani clinic on "Timpani Tone Production" at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago and was guest timpanist with the Chicago Symphony in February of 2010. Mark has also been a guest timpanist with the Pittsburgh, Detroit, Minnesota and Ft. Worth symphonies.
Other performances include a recital with Steve Hemphill in Flagstaff, AZ (March 2011) playing the Bartok Sonata and then in June of 2011 Mark and his brother Paul (Cleveland Orchestra timpanist) premiered the "Dynasty Double Timpani Concerto" by James Oliverio with the Atlanta Symphony with repeat concerts at the Blossom Music Center in September, 2011 with The Cleveland Orchestra. Since then Mark has performed the "Dynasty Double" with the Valdosta and Asheville Symphonies as well as at the Shenendoah Conservatory and with fellow timpanist Jauvon Gilliam (National Symphony Orchestra timpanist) at their Carnegie Hall solo debut in June of 2015.
In May of 2019 the Yancich brothers performed the "Dynasty Double" again with the Atlanta Symphony. This time the piece was recorded for both CD and video/DVD. The CD was released in the spring of 2020 and the DVD is now in post production editing.
