Joseph Kelly joined the TSO in 2018 as Assistant Timpani and Section Percussion. He is also a coach of the percussion section for the TSYO.
Previously, Joe was a member of the percussion section at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. Mr. Kelly has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Malaysia Philharmonic, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and Fort Worth Symphony.
In 2013 and 2014, Mr. Kelly was selected to be a member of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, where he performed orchestral and chamber works and was the soloist in Evan Antonellis’s Multiple Histories. In 2014, Joe joined the Lucerne Festival Academy and toured Europe under the direction of Matthias Pintscher, performing works by Lachenmann, Berio, and Pintscher. When he returned to Lucerne in 2015 as a member of the Academy, he was also invited to perform as an Alumni Guest at the Tanglewood Festival during its Festival of Contemporary Music. The following summer, Joseph was invited to be the solo percussionist of the Lucerne Festival Alumni Ensemble. This included being the resident ensemble for a composer workshop run by Wolfgang Rihm, as well as the set group for a large commissioning project from the festival. The Alumni Ensemble gave 21 world premières during the 2016 Lucerne Festival.
Mr. Kelly received his bachelor’s degree in percussion performance and master’s degree in orchestral performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where he was a recipient of the Elizabeth Beineke Scholarship and the Outreach Award at the 2015 Commencement. He was awarded the 2012 Kerope Zildjian Concert Percussion Scholarship. Mr. Kelly holds a professional diploma in orchestral studies from Roosevelt University and was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Former teachers include Christopher Lamb, Duncan Patton, She-e Wu, Erik Charlston, Vadim Karpinos, and Ed Harrison.