Wade Culbreath
timpani/percussion
An active recording artist, Wade Culbreath has contributed to world premiere recordings of works by Esa Pekka Salonen, John Adams and Steve Reich. He has performed on hundreds of motion picture soundtracks for Hollywood composers Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, James Horner and John Williams, among others.
He is currently timpanist and principal percussionist with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and Pasadena Symphony Orchestra and is a frequent performer with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group has included collaborations with Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta, Mauricio Kagel, and Tan Dun at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Ojai Music Festival and the Chatelet: Théâtre musical de Paris.
Wade received his Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California and Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music where he was awarded the Performer’s Certificate. His instructors have included John Beck, Arthur Press, Kenneth Watson and Massie Johnson.
He is a member of the American Federation of Musicians Local 47 and the Recording Musicians Association of Los Angeles.
