Aaron McDonald has been Principal Timpanist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 2007. Prior to joining the VSO, he was timpanist with the West Virginia Symphony and performed and toured with the Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, and the Buffalo Philharmonic. With the VSO, he has recorded several motion picture soundtracks and music for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, including all of the national anthems of the countries involved in the games.  

As a chamber musician, Mr. McDonald is timpanist with the Lake Tahoe Summerfest and performs with several of the new music ensembles in Vancouver including the VSO Chamber Players. He will make his solo debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in their 2012/2013 season as part of their new music series.

Mr. McDonald has a Bachelor's Degree in Music Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a Master's Degree in Orchestral Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. While at MSM, he studied with Chris Lamb of the New York Philharmonic and Duncan Patton of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He then moved to Cleveland to study with Tom Freer of the Cleveland Orchestra.  While in school he participated in several music festivals including the Music Academy of the West and the Israel International Symphony Orchestra.  He currently teaches at the University of British Columbia School of Music and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music, where he leads the percussion ensembles.