Mitchell Thomas Peters was a principal timpanist and percussionist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He composed well-known pieces for the marimba such as "Yellow After the Rain" and "Sea Refractions"; it is said that these works were composed because Peters felt that there was a lack of musically interesting material that would introduce his students to four-mallet marimba techniques.
Biography
Peters began his career in the United States ArmySymphony Orchestra. He later was principal percussionist of the Dallas Symphony before taking the principal percussion position in the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1969. When principal timpanist William Kraft retired in 1981 to pursue his career as a composer, Peters stepped up to assume the role as timpanist, a position he occupied through the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2005/2006 season. Peters was well known for his prodigious sight reading ability. Peters became the applied percussion teacher at California State University Los Angeles shortly after joining the LA Philharmonic. During his tenure as timpanist, he took the position as professor of percussion at the University of California, Los Angeles. In May 2012, Peters retired from teaching. Peters was also a member of the Philharmonic New Music Group and recorded a wide array of contemporary works as a chamber musician. Peters held the Performer's Certificate and bachelor's and master's degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with William Street. While at Eastman, he was a member of the original "Marimba Masters." Upon graduation, he served as timpanist with the 7th U.S. Army Symphony Orchestra. As a widely published author and composer, Peter's works and instructional materials are highly regarded throughout the United States and abroad. He owned and operated a music publishing company that handled percussion works exclusively. His faculty positions included the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara from 1990–2002, and UCLA, where he taught percussion and conducted the percussion ensemble. In 2006 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Sabian Cymbal Company. After a year of declining health, Peters died on October 28, 2017, at the age of 82. In a newspaper article announcing his death, symphonic conductor James Touchi-Peters- who was also Peters' cousin- was quoted as saying, "It's not an exaggeration to say that Mitch Peters was among the dozen best timpanists in the world." In a letter to Peters, the late conductor and percussionist Frederick Fennell wrote, "I may make music long enough to run into a better percussionist than you, but I doubt it very much."
