Biography

Kalman Cherry was principal timpanist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra from 1958 - 2010. He was born and educated in Philadelphia where, at the age of seven, he began the study of percussion. His teachers have included Gabriel Arra, Joe Huttlin, and Fred Hinger, who was principal timpanist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He holds an Artist’s Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. In addition to his duties with the Dallas Symphony, Mr. Cherry was principal timpanist of the Dallas Opera from 1958 until its separation from the Symphony in 1989. He has performed extensively at the Bethlehem Bach Festival and the Marlboro Music Festival. While at Marlboro, he performed and recorded with Pablo Casals for Columbia Records. For more than thirty years with the Dallas Symphony, he has performed with many of the world’s leading conductors and soloists and has recorded for Angel-EMI, Pro Arte, RCA, Telarc and Turnabout Records. For eight years he served as the orchestra representative on the board of governors of the Dallas Symphony Association. Mr. Cherry began teaching while still a high school student. He has taught at the Settlement Music School and the Philadelphia Musical Academy and presently teaches at the University of North Texas School of Music and Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts. For seven years he was editor of the clinic feature, "Focus on Timpani," for Percussive Notes Magazine.