Timpani / Percussion
Principal Timpani
Eric Schweikert joined the Seattle Symphony as Principal Timpani in November of 2023. Prior to coming to Seattle, Schweikert was Principal Timpanist of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic (1989–2023) and Director of Percussion Studies at Purdue University Fort Wayne (2008–2023).
Schweikert has taught and performed at the Eastern Music Festival, where he served as Principal Percussionist from 1993–2011 and Principal Timpanist under the direction of music director Gerard Schwarz from 2012–2023. During the 2011/2012 season, Schweikert served as Acting Principal Timpanist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Leonard Slatkin.
Summer festivals include the Peninsula Music Festival, Waterloo Festival, Tanglewood, the Northwood Orchestra and the National Music Camp.
Schweikert has toured the U.S., Europe and South America with the Chicago Symphony; Scandinavia with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; and has performed and recorded with the Cincinnati and Detroit symphonies. Schweikert has also performed with the Seoul Philharmonic, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the symphonies of Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Saint Louis, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Alabama, Columbus, Tampa, South Bend and Virginia.
Previous positions include Principal Timpanist of the Victoria Symphony, British Columbia, Canada, the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas, the Ohio Chamber Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Schweikert is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he studied with John Alfieri; has a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Paul Yancich and Richard Weiner of the Cleveland Orchestra; and attended The Juilliard School as a Masters candidate, studying with Rohland Kohloff, timpanist of the New York Philharmonic. Other teachers include James Ross of the Chicago Symphony and Mary Koss.
Solo performances include Russell Peck’s The Glory and the Grandeur for percussion section and orchestra, Peck’s timpani concerto Harmonic Rhythm, the Phillip Glass Concerto for Two Timpanists with Jonathan Haas, and the concerto for timpani and orchestra/wind ensemble, Raise the Roof, by Michael Daugherty. In March of 2022, Schweikert performed the double timpani concerto Dynasty by James Oliverio with colleague Alison Chorn and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.
Schweikert is a founder and past president of the Old Crown Brass Band in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His wife Melissa is a professor of psychology at Indiana Tech University in Fort Wayne, and Schweikert is stepfather to three children: Brent, Nicholas and Rebecca Lavin. Schweikert has a son, William Schweikert, from a previous marriage. In his spare time, he enjoys camping and hiking with his family, fly fishing, golf and travel.
