Scholastic Arts Spotlight - Michael Sparhuber
By: Maureen McGuire
Updated: September 28, 2007
His teachers say Michael Sparhuber's eyes lit up the first time he ever picked up drumsticks----and that was 6 years ago. Now...this Brockport High School senior is among the best young percussionists in Rochester. "We're in the back, and everyone knows we can be really loud," Michael says, "but the cool thing about timpany is they can change pitches, and so you're constantly re-tuning and you can actually play melodic lines with the timpany that back up what the rest of the orchestra is playing."
Michael is president of the school band....and a percussionist with the prestigious Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. He recently won the honor of playing solo with the RPO. At the Eastman Community Music School, teacher Ruth Cahn has been with him every step of the way. "He's always been very gifted," she says. "He was the student who after the middle school All-Counties, my phone would be lit up when I'd come in on Monday morning with teachers saying, who was that miniature timpanist you had there, he was a miniature professional and Michael has always been that way."
Michael's favorite instrument may be timpany----but he's also a pro on the marimba. Next fall, he's off to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia----one of the best music colleges in the world. He says, "My teacher at Curtis will be the timpanist at the Philadelphia Orchestra and I really wanted to work with someone who had a lot of orchestral experience and could help guide me in that direction." Michael's goal is to play the instrument he loves in a world-class orchestra!
