Joseph Vaclav Petrasek
Lecturer

About Me
Joseph Petrasek was appointed Principal Percussionist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2017, and Principal Percussionist of the Colorado Music Festival in 2019. Previously, he served as Associate Principal Percussionist of the Kansas City Symphony for 8 seasons, and as a percussion fellow in the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. Petrasek has appeared as Guest Principal with the San Francisco Symphony and has also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Originally from Southern California, Petrasek earned his bachelor's degree at UCLA studying under Mitchell Peters, former Timpanist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He went on to receive a master's degree at Temple University, studying with Philadelphia Orchestra percussionists Alan Abel and Angela Zator-Nelson.