Principal Timpani

Paul Yancich

Otto G. and Corinne T. Voss Chair

Paul Yancich was appointed The Cleveland Orchestra’s principal timpanist by Lorin Maazel in 1981. He first appeared as soloist with the Orchestra in 1990, performing the world premiere of James Oliverio’s Timpani Concerto No. 1 (The Olympian). In 2011, he performed the world premiere of Oliverio’s DYNASTY: Double Timpani Concerto with his brother, Mark Yancich, in Atlanta and Cleveland. His most recent appearances as soloist with the Orchestra were in 2013, in Johann Carl Christian Fischer’s Symphony with Eight Obbligato Timpani. In 2018, he performed Philip Glass’s Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists at Carnegie Hall with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

A native of Rochester, New York, and a student of the Rochester public school system, Mr. Yancich is the fourth-generation of a family of professional musicians. His teachers include Cloyd Duff, Richard Weiner (both former principals of The Cleveland Orchestra), Saul Goodman, William Street, and Bill Cahn. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Mr. Yancich has been co-chair of the percussion department at the Cleveland Institute of Music since 1981 and served as music director of the CIM Percussion Ensemble for 20 years. His timpani and percussion students perform in more than 40 orchestras in the United States and abroad.