Munich-based top percussionist, Arnold Riedhammer continues to be as busy as ever in his various roles, which include Principal Percussionist of the Munich Philharmonic, Professor of Percussion at the Munich school of music and drummer in the hugely successful brass / big band Blechschaden.
 
In the last few months, the Munich Philharmonic has enjoyed a season of exciting music packed full of percussion including works by Oliver Messaien, Hans Werner Henze and György Ligeti. 'The Challenge' for snare drum solo, written by Arnold himself, was also performed in a concert alongside works by Carl Orff and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. July will see the orchestra perform Gustav Mahler's fifth symphony, Johannes Brahms' fourth and The Dream of Gerontius by Edward Elgar, this last being conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. For all the latest at the orchestra, go to www.mphil.de
 
As a hugely respected teacher, Arnold's list of students and their success stories is quite staggering. Many of them have gone on to perform as percussionists and timpanists with some of the best orchestras in the world, as well as on solo projects. One has, for example, recently been awarded a position at the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchester. The students’ end-of-year recitals this semester were attended by Peter Sadlo, an internationally acclaimed percussionist and composer, who was said to be quite blown away by the standard.
 
Blechschaden is an exciting and vibrant crossover band made up of the brass section of the Munich Philharmonic plus Arnold on his Premier Series in Silver Sparkle Lacquer. Arnold got the gig with them apparently because he is such a good reader. This is also seen to be one of the reasons he got to play as a studio musician in the 1970's with the likes of Queen and The Rolling Stones. According to the musicians of Blechschaden, they always organise the concert's interval for just after Arnold has done his solo so that the audience have some time to recover from the excitement! Check out www.blechschaden.de for a small taste of the excitement. They have just celebrated their 25th anniversary which included an appearance at the Bundestag in Bonn!
 
To German parents, Arnold Riedhammer was born in Somerville, New Jersey USA and lived there until the family moved back to Germany in 1958. He began learning drums in the Bavarian village he grew up in called Dingolfing, because there was no telephone! Following his studies at the Richard Strauss Conservatoire, Arnold was Principal Timpanist in Nuremberg and Bonn before joining the Munich Phil in 1974. Somehow, despite being crazily busy, he still manages to practise seven hours each day.