Richard Jensen
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra - United States
Overview
Richard Jensen has been a member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra percussion section since 1972, when he won his position at the age of twenty. He now holds the dual positions of Associate Principal Timpanist and Percussionist. Mr. Jensen can be heard on over one hundred recordings with the CSO and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras, and has been the principal mallet player on most recordings. He can also be heard on principal timpani on the CSO recordings of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, and Dvorak's New World Symphony, all with Paavo Järvi conducting. He has toured extensively in the United States, Puerto Rico, Europe, Japan, China and Taiwan as percussionist and timpanist with the CSO.Among his solo credits are concerto appearances with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops at Riverbend, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, and the American Premiere of Richard Mills' Soundscapes for Percussion and Orchestra, with the Middletown, Ohio Symphony. Mr. Jensen has collaborated with the Empire Brass Quintet as percussion arranger and performer on six of their recordings for Telarc.
A native of Seattle, Richard studied with Seattle Symphony Principal Percussionist Randy Baunton, with David Shrader at the University of Washington and with Fred Hinger at the Manhattan School of Music. He has also performed with the Seattle Symphony, the Seattle Opera, the National Orchestral Association, the Colorado Philharmonic, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the CSO Chamber Players series and the Taft Museum Chamber Series, and has served on the artist faculty of the Marrowstone Music Festival in Washington state. Also an active producer of chamber music recordings, one of his projects for Frank Proto was nominated for a Grammy Award in the small group category in 2007.
Mr. Jensen is currently on the percussion faculty at Northern Kentucky University, a position he has held since 1989. Richard is an orchestral artist endorser for Pro-mark, Pearl Drums and Adams Musical Instruments, and is an Avedis Zildjian Co. artist.