Justin Gingrich
Principal Percussion
Brief info
JUSTIN GINGRICH, is Principal Timpanist of the Fresno Philharmonic, Principal Timpanist and Principal Percussionist with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and Principal Percussionist with the Johnstown Symphony. He is an Adjunct Instructor at Carnegie Mellon University and teaches at The Music Note—Ben Avon.
On timpani, percussion, and drum set, Gingrich has performed with groups across the U.S., including the San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Columbus Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Oakland Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, Canton Symphony, Wheeling Symphony, and with a plethora of other orchestras and chamber / new music groups.
He has worked under the batons of Giancarlo Guerrero, Ludovic Morlot, Joel Revzen, Robert Spano, Martin West, and Victor Yampolsky. Gingrich has shared the stage with Andrea Bocelli, Itzhak Perlman, Bernadette Peters, Midori, Ben Folds, and singer-songwriter, Seal. In the summers, Gingrich has performed with the Pittsburgh Festival Opera; the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County, WI; the Aspen Music Festival; and the Festival Orchestra NAPA | Blackburn Music Academy.
Gingrich completed a Performance Certificate at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a Master’s of Music at Carnegie Mellon University, and a Bachelor’s of Music at Lawrence University. His primary teachers were Christopher Allen, Jeremy Branson, Paul Evans, Jake Nissly, Ed Stephan, and Jack van Geem. While a member of the Lawrence University Percussion Ensemble (LUPÉ), the group earned a DownBeat Student Music Award for Best Latin Jazz Ensemble Performance and a Percussive Arts Society Award for Best World Music Ensemble.
He has taught for over a decade. Past posts include: Associate Lecturer of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Fox Cities Campus; Director of Percussion for the Xavier Catholic School System; and Music Instructor at over a dozen schools and shops across the United States.