Queens-born percussionist Joseph Pereira joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2007 as principal timpanist after more than 10 years with the New York Philharmonic, where he was assistant principal timpanist and section percussionist.



Joseph Pereira auditioned for and got the New York job at 23 while still studying at the Juilliard School. Joseph Pereira completed his master's in percussion at Juilliard part time while playing in the N.Y. Philharmonic.



Joseph Pereira started started out playing marimba, xylophone and other percussive instruments.



He composing as an undergraduate at Boston University, where he received a bachelor's degree with a double major in performance and composition/theory. Besides his recent pieces for percussion and double bass, he writes music for a variety of instruments, including winds, English horn and cello. His violin solo was just recorded at Disney Hall, and due out soon is a recording for flute and dumbek, a hand drum.



In 2010, for instance, Joseph Pereira appeared onstage bare-chested and barefoot to perform composer Vinko Globokar's Corporel for Solo Percussion, in which the musician uses his own body as a drum. Jospeh Pereira also recalls a piece by Unsuk Chin which included his dropping 500 grains of rice on a snare drum as a crescendo. He confides: "I didn't rehearse that part. I didn't want to clean it up."