Photograph of San Francisco Symphony timpanist Ed Stephan by Kristen Loken
CULTURE BEAT | PAMELA FEINSILBER
Being the San Francisco Symphony’s principal timpanist is just one of the things keeping Ed Stephan busy these days. He’s also head of the percussion department at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh; on the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and at Northwestern University in Chicago; and timpanist of the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he’s spent much of the summer.
The Pacific Heights house he calls home is being sold, so he’s been looking for another place in the neighborhood.
And the symphony’s new season begins this month. Stephan is particularly looking forward to the Stravinsky Festival. The orchestra, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, will perform the composer’s Persephone and The Firebird from September 21 to 23; and his Violin Concerto, Petrushka and Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) from September 27 to 30.
Do you play the other percussion instruments, in addition to the timpani?
Yes, I play all the different instruments. But years ago, I discovered a knack for playing the timpani, those large-pitched singing drums in the back of the orchestra. A lot of people don’t realize timpanists can play complex melodies and bass lines, because we have pedals that work like the slides on a trombone. We have to move them very quickly and precisely to change pitch. We’re always in search of the perfect sound.
Is it true you’ve collected 600 mallets?
Many of us are kind of obsessive about finding the perfect place to strike the instrument, and the perfect implement to strike it with. I know a lot of mass and custom mallet makers around the world. A very good guy makes a line of sticks I conceived of to my specifications: the Ed Stephan Signature Series.
What is it like playing timpani in a full orchestra?
Composers like Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky use the instrument as part of the overall orchestral sonority. When Stravinsky writes for timpani, he often makes it the center of attention — not only for the listeners, but also for the other musicians in terms of rhythm and dynamics. It becomes sort of the glue. The timpanist has to be dead on, because everybody relies on the instrument so much in those moments.
Which Stravinsky piece excites you most?
Any time we have the opportunity to play The Rite of Spring, we get excited. It’s an iconic work for the timpani, because it’s so important for a successful performance of that piece. I probably play 10 times as much in any Sibelius symphony, but then it’s woven into the texture, and you’re not so exposed. The Rite of Spring has a lot of solo notes — this one sound made by one person. Everything you play fits in between the notes all the other musicians have to play. The sounds we choose have a big impact on the sound of the orchestra overall, so it’s a tremendous responsibility. If the timpanist is at all imprecise, it has massive implications.
How is the hunt for a new home in the neighborhood going?
I just signed a lease for a place in the Financial District. I’m bummed not to be returning to the Fillmore, but I’ll continue to occupy the neighborhood even if I don’t live there. For one thing, I’m part of a jazz quartet formed out of the orchestra, Contrabanda, and we have dates at Scopo Divino, the wine bar at California and Divisadero. The other members are the symphony’s principal trumpet, Mark Inouye; principal bass, Scott Pingel; and a local jazz pianist, Adam Shulman.
Why Scopo Divino?
I love the vibe there, love the food and wine, and I got to know Tim Hayman, the owner, really well. When he heard we were forming a jazz quartet, he wanted us to play there — and the first time was a big success. He asked us to play on the first Wednesday of every month, but with our schedules, we’ll get there as often as we can. We’ll be back on November 7.
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