Larry Reese
The NZSO spends a tremendous amount of time touring and recording. Consequently I require instruments that are robust, resonant and extremely versatile. But above all, I need an instrument that allows me to have a pure musical voice, full of tone and power. Yamaha timpani have given me that voice for over 25 years.
Biography
American-born timpanist and percussionist Laurence Reese is a graduate of The Juilliard School in New York and The Royal College of Music in London. He has been the Section Principal Timpanist of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra since 1998.
Larry has performed in the US and abroad as principal timpanist with such ensembles as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, The Washington Chamber Symphony, The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Hallé Orchestra, The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. During his tenure in the NZSO, Larry has played on over 60 commercial recordings on the Sony, Rattle, Naxos and EMI labels. The NZSO earned their first Grammy nomination for best orchestral performance in 2015 for a recording of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Zhou Long's Symphony 'Humen 1839'. During his time, the NZSO has also recorded the musical scores to over 20 films, including the Oscar-winning, The Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lovely Bones, and the final two Hobbit films. In 2007 Larry gave the world premiere of John Psathas' concerto for timpani and orchestra, Planet Damnation in five performances around New Zealand. Larry is on the faculty of The New Zealand School of Music in Wellington and the University of Auckland.
