timpani

Josef Gumpinger was born in Upper Austria in 1968 and began taking percussion lessons at the age of nine. He studied at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz where in 1990 he obtained the state teaching qualification and passed his diploma examination in concert performance with distinction.

In 1998 he was accepted into the Bruckner Orchestra as a percussionist. He performs in numerous ensembles and orchestras as a soloist (with conductors such as Franz Welser-Möst, Michael Gielen, Friedrich Cerha, Kurt Schwertsik and Heinz Karl Gruber). Additionally, he has made a name for himself as a chamber musician in ensembles such as the ensemble “die reihe”, Kontrapunkte and the Wiener Concert Verein. Together with Prof. Gerhard Windbacher he founded the percussion ensemble Supercussion Vienna which has premiered many works by leading composers.

From 1999 to 2011 Josef Gumpinger held two percussion classes at the Anton Bruckner Private University Linz and the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna. Since the autumn of 2011 he has held the chair in classical percussion at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

Many of his students have won prestigious prizes and have been accepted by leading orchestras such as the Graz Opera Orchestra, Landestheater Klagenfurt, the Volksoper Vienna, the RSO Vienna and the Vienna Philharmonic.

Since 1993 he has been a percussionist and since 2009 timpani leader with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Wolfgang Nagl - born in Ried im Innkreis - attended the music high school in Linz and began his studies at the Anton Bruckner Private University, which he completed with distinction at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in 2020. Professionally, he gained experience in various orchestras and orchestral ensembles before he was temporarily engaged by the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra in 2018 and subsequently by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. After winning auditions, he became a permanent member of the Vienna RSO in 2022. Furthermore, as a studio musician, he was instrumental in recording percussion sounds for the Vienna Symphonic Library database.
In addition to his musical interests, he is also active in instrument making - and there especially in the production of natural membranes for percussion instruments - and also devotes himself to this passion in a scientific capacity. One of the highlights of his career was a trip to the USA to the "Acoustical Society of America" where, as a representative of the "Department of Music Acoustics (IWK)", he presented his research results in the field of Viennese sound. His resulting diploma thesis "Humidity influence on natural drumheads" was awarded by the Austrian Acoustics Association.