Percussion Instruments and their History

James Blades, renowned percussionist and scholar, and for many years Professor of Percussion at the Royal Academy of Music, received wide acclaim for his book Percussion Instruments and Their History. Always in demand as one of England's foremost percussionists, he played under some of the most distinguished conductors in the world. For years he collaborated with Benjamin Britten as percussion advisor, acting as his personal percussionist and developing many of the composer's more unusual percussion effects. He was awarded the Hon.RAM (Royal Academy of Music), the Order of the British Empire, and Hon.M.Mus (University of Surrey).

Dame Evelyn Glennie is the world's premier solo percussionist, performing worldwide with the greatest orchestras, conductors and artists. Her solo recordings exceed 40 CDs and are as diverse as her career on-stage. A double GRAMMY award winner and BAFTA nominee, Evelyn is also a composer for film, theatre and television. Evelyn was awarded an OBE in 1993 and has over 100 international awards to date, including the Polar Music Prize and the Companion of Honour.

Neil Percy is Head of Timpani and Percussion at the Royal Academy of Music. A member of the London Symphony Orchestra for more than 25 year, Neil has worked closely with many major artists and conductors, including Sir Colin Davis, Pierre Boulez, Steve Reich, Francois Xavier-Roth, Sir Karl Jenkins, Ravi Shankar, Kent Nagano and Elgar Howarth.