Prof. Michael Vladar, principal timpanist at Wiener Symphoniker, took up a one-week visiting professorship at TNUA in May, giving a series of lectures on timpani and percussion music.
Prof. Vladar was born in Vienna and graduated from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where he studied under Horst Berger, Richard Hochrainer and Gerald Fromme.
He became principal timpanist at Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg in 1984, and was a timpanist at Camerata Academica Salzburg from 1984 to 1992.
He joined Concentus Musicus Wien in 1986 and has also served as principal timpanist at Wiener Symphoniker since 1990.
Prof. Vladar has also been members of other chamber music ensembles, such as Wiener Virtuosen and Wiener Kammer Orchester.
Timpani had been mostly used as instruments for improvised performances and no timpani music recorded on paper until the Baroque period in late 17th century when the instruments were accepted by the orchestra, according to Vladar.
Timpani also played a role in some of the musical pieces of some of the most important composers of the period, such as Bach, Handel and Purcell.
As of the Classical period timpani had already become an important part of the orchestra.
Apart from explaining the history of timpani during his talks at TNUA, Prof. Vladar also talked about various aspects of the instrument, such as the characteristics of different types of mallets, tuning, and musical interpretation. He also demonstrated the skills of playing timpani.