Sabian - Because Sound Matters

Vic Firth

His performances with such legendary conductors and musicians as Leonard Bernstein, Serge Koussevitsky, Leopold Stokowski, Jascha Heifitz and Vladimir Horowitz are standouts in a career of highlights. But Vic Firth made his initial mark when he was selected to become -- at the age of twenty-one -- the youngest member ever of the famed Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra.

A student of the masters Roman Szulc at the New England Conservatory and Saul Goodman at Juilliard, Vic was, by age twenty, himself teaching at the Conservatory, where from 1950 to 1994 he was head of the percussion department. Today he performs as special guest percussionist with major orchestras around the world, while his successful drumstick company ensures the Vic Firth name is forever synonymous with the high standards this legendary percussionist has come to epitomize.

"Vic is quite simply the consumate artist," says Boston Symphony conductor, the legendary Seiji Ozawa. "I believe he is the single greatest percussionist anywhere in the world. Every performance that Vic gives is informed with incredible musicianship, elegance and impeccable timing."

Roy Burns

One of the great big band drummers of all time, Roy Burns made his initial mark when, in his early twenties, he was performing with the legendary Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, and Woody Herman. Talented and full of initiative, he would later move to New York and pursue a career that combined studio and live work that saw him playing top TV shows including the Merv Griffin Show and the Tonight Show, as well as major recording sessions and regular performances at historic clubs including the Metropole and Birdland.

An in-demand teacher, Roy wrote major drum instruction books including Finger Control, Advanced Rock Drumming, New Orleans Drumming, and the innovative One-Surface Learning. As one of the very first artist-clinicians, he toured the world, setting standards for all those who followed. Along the way Roy became one of the very few drummers whose career has encompassed virtually every aspect of drumming and the music business. From drummer, to teacher, to publisher, to -- with Aquarian Drumheads -- a leading manufacturer, Roy Burns remains one of most inspirational personalities and players in drumming.