Sharilyn L. Rak, percussion
Percussionist Sharilyn Rak is a founding member of the Washington
Symphonic Brass. Ms. Rak has a Master of Music degree from
Catholic University and has been a performer and music educator
in the Washington area for over 15 years. She is Principal
Percussionist with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra and filled
the same position for many years with the Roanoke Symphony
Orchestra. She is a frequent player with the Kennedy
Center Opera House Orchestra, National Chamber Orchestra,
National Gallery Orchestra and Arlington Symphony Orchestra.
Her work at the Kennedy Center includes several world and
national premieres including Benjamin Britten's ballet The
Prince of the Pagodas and Conrad Susa's opera Dangerous
Liaisons.
In addition, Ms. Rak is a regular in the recording studio.
Her recording credits include stints with Ray Charles and
the pianist Santiago Rodriguez on his recently released CD
The Piano in Hollywood.
Bill Richards - Timpani
William Richards is a graduate of Temple University and holds
a Master of Music degree from the Catholic University of America.
He performed as principal percussion and featured soloist for
The United States Army Band (Pershing's Own) in Washington,
DC for 20 years. After leaving the band, Mr. Richards has
been very active
in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area. He has performed with
the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra since 1984. During that
time he has performed with Placido Domingo, Kiri te Kanawa,
Jose Carreras and Renee Fleming. In 1999 he performed at the
Verizon Center for the popular Three Tenors Concert. Also in
1999 Mr. Richards performed at the White House with the Opera
Orchestra for the 50th anniversary of NATO. IN 2000 he toured
Germany as timpanist with the Washington Bach Consort for the
250th anniversary of J. S. Bach's death. As timpanist with
the Washington Symphonic Brass, he performed for Pope Benedict's
Mass at National's Park in April of 2008. He has also performed
with the National and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras. Mr. Richards
has performed for the world's greatest ballet companies, including
the Bolshoi, Mariinsdy (Kirov), American Ballet Theatre and
the Royal Ballet. He also enjoys musical theatre and has played
Annie Get Your Gun with Bernadette Peters, the American
premiere of Andrew LLoyd Webber's Whistle Down the Wind and
the pre-Broadway 50th anniversary run of the Tony award winning West
Side Story.
As a member of the Verge Ensemble of the Contemporary Music
Forum, Mr. Richards traveled to Paris in 2007 to perform jointly
with the Aleph Ensemble of Paris. Mr. Richards has been the
head of the Percussion Department at Howard University in
Washington, DC since 2000.
