Lider Chang
Lider Chang is a native Taiwanese timpanist who was appointed principal timpanist of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra—one of the most prestigious orchestras in China—by Maestro Long Yu in 2012. Prior to this, he served as principal timpanist of the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra (2010–2012, China) and the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra (2005–2010, Taiwan). Recently, Chang was appointed Director of Percussion Studies at the Xinghai Conservatory in Guangzhou.
In January 2014, he premiered Michael Daugherty’s timpani concerto *Raise the Roof* in China with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. Chang is widely recognized as one of the finest timpanists in both China and Taiwan. He has performed under renowned conductors including Antoni Wit, Eiji Oue, Claus Peter Flor, Peter Ruzicka, John Nelson, and Case Scaglione, and has been invited to perform with ensembles such as the Macau Orchestra, NCPA Orchestra in Beijing, and Hangzhou Philharmonic.
In 2006, he was invited by the Shanghai International Percussion Festival to perform a timpani concerto with Taiwan’s Lien Percussion Group. In addition to orchestral music, Chang is a versatile percussionist whose broad performance range includes drum set with jazz and pop groups and contemporary repertoire with the Guangzhou Percussion Ensemble, the only professional percussion group in southern China. He has appeared at jazz festivals and recorded for commercial and film music, including Taiwanese pop singer Evonne Hsu’s 2008 album and the *Silent Code* (2012) film soundtrack.
Chang holds a master’s degree in Economics from New York University and a master’s degree in Percussion from Carnegie Mellon University. His principal teachers include Joseph Pereira (LA Philharmonic), Tim Adams (Pittsburgh Symphony), and Alan Abel (Philadelphia Orchestra). In 2005 he was accepted into the Music Academy of the West (Santa Barbara, CA), where he studied with Ted Atkatz and Michael Werner.
Since returning to Asia in 2005, he has given numerous masterclasses in Taiwan and China, and hosted clinics for timpanists / percussionists from the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and NDR Symphonic Orchestra, as well as drum-set masters such as Dennis Chambers and John Riley.
As a dedicated educator, Chang started the first Chinese percussion education blog in Taiwan, recommended by the *China Times* as one of the best blogs of the year. He also writes a series of percussion educational articles on Sina Weibo and in *Music Weekly* in China, each averaging over 50,000 views.
