He is a percussionist and conductor born in Weymouth, Massachusetts who studied at high school in Philadelphia before entering the University of Michigan, where he earned his Bachelor of Music degree. He took further studies at Temple University to earn his Master of Music degree.
He performed with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra for three seasons, was a member of the Colorado Philharmonic, the Flint Symphony and the Michigan Opera Theater Orchestra and became a Tanglewood Fellow in 1980.
He went to work in Pittsburgh where he played percussion and marimba solos on the PBS show Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. From 1982 to 1989 he was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
In 1989 he became a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra where he has the position of Principal Timpani and holds the Dwight V. Dowley Chair. During his time with the orchestra he has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra Percussion Group and was the co-ordinating producer of the 2005 documentary film Music from the Inside Out.
Turning his hand to conducting he was assistant conductor of the Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestra and conductor Duquesne University’s percussion ensemble, where he also taught. He is a founding conductor of the Curtis Institute of Music’s 20-21 New Music Ensemble and was the music director of the Philadelphia All City High School Orchestra for at least 10 years. He has also been conductor of Main Line Symphony Orchestra.
Recordings he has performed on number more than 80 as Principal Timpani with The Philadelphia Orchestra as well as being a guest timpanist with Seiji Ozawa’s Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra and a percussionist with Network for New Music. Some of the recordings he has performed on include his solo percussion and chamber CD Movement in Time which is Volume 1of the Philadelphia Percussion Project. Others include William Kraft: Vintage Renaissance and Beyond by Mary Chun/Earplay, I Hear the Mermaids Singing by Tina Davidson, Weapons of Grass Construction and When It’s Christmas Time by DePue Brothers Band, Seven Mad Gods by Robert Maggio, Dream Journal by Network for New Music, Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 and Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique”/Dumka by The Philadelphia Orchestra, Zones by the Philadelphia Orchestra Percussion Group and Bodies in Motion: Music Composed for the Documentary Film Thomas Eakins: Scenes from Modern Life by various artists.
He also worked with electronic media and performed and produced CDs with the DePue Brothers Band. using his company name Beat the Drum Entertainment, Inc.
In the field of musical education he has been on the faculty of the Rowan University and joined the Curtis Institute of Music in 1994 He has also been a guest faculty member of the Manhattan School of Music and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He has given many master classes nationally and internationally and been a coach for several orchestras and summer festivals.
Sources:
- https://www.philorch.org/your-philorch/meet-your-orchestra/musicians/don-s.-liuzzi/
- http://www.pomusicians.org/don-liuzzi.html
- https://www.stokowski.org/Philadelphia_Orchestra_Musicians_List.htm
- https://www.kenesethisrael.org/event/cheryl-beth-silverman-memorial-concert-main-line-symphony-orchestra/
- http://www.tresonamultimedia.com/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Movement%20In%20Time%20Book.pdf
- https://www.chandos.net/chanimages/Booklets/OD1109.pdf
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/4625583-Don-S-Liuzzi