Edward Atkatz

A former principal percussionist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Edward Atkatz has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, and the Santa Barbara Symphony. Over the past two years he has played on several movie scores, including those for The Day the Earth Stood Still and Up. He has also participated in the St. Barts Music Festival since 2000. Prior to winning his Chicago Symphony position in 1997, he was a member of the New World Symphony in Florida. He is currently a faculty member at Lynn Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton, Florida.

Mr. Atkatz began his studies at age 10 at the Bloomingdale House of Music and later attended the preparatory division at Manhattan School of Music. He holds a bachelor's degree in percussion performance and a music education degree, magna cum laude, from Boston University. Prior to graduate studies at the New England Conservatory of Music, he taught music in elementary schools in Worcester, Massachusetts. While in graduate school, he was invited to participate in the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra for two summers, and in 1996 served as timpanist for Tanglewood's production of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes, conducted by Seiji Ozawa. Mr. Atkatz earned a professional studies degree at Temple University, where he worked with Alan Abel of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

An avid long-distance runner, Mr. Atkatz ran the Chicago Marathon in 2001 with a time of 2:59:32. He enjoys performing various styles of music, is a singer/songwriter, and plays guitar and keyboard for the band NYCO. The band was the subject of a 2008 New York Times article and its music has been featured on MTV and in advertising for Volkswagen and JC Penney.

Mr. Atkatz has been a member of the Music Academy faculty since 2003.