Faculty Don Liuzzi     Don Liuzzi was born and raised in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and completed high school at the Franklin Learning Center in Philadelphia. He earned his bachelor of music degree from the University of Michigan and his master of music degree from Temple University. His primary teachers were Alan Abel, Charles Owen, and John Soroka.      Before joining The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1989, Mr. Liuzzi was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony percussion section from 1982 to 1989. While in Pittsburgh he taught percussion and conducted the percussion ensemble at Duquesne University, was assistant conductor of the Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestra, and appeared on PBS’ nationally syndicated Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, performing marimba and percussion solos.      Locally, Mr. Liuzzi has been a percussionist with the Network for New Music and has recorded contemporary chamber works for the CRI, Crystal, and Albany labels. He currently is working on a recording project with the Philadelphia Orchestra Percussion Group. A participating musician in the documentary film Music from the Inside Out, Mr. Liuzzi also served as the film’s coordinating producer. The feature length film by Anker Productions, which features The Philadelphia Orchestra, opened at film festivals in 2004, was released in American theaters in 2005-2006, and on PBS television in May of 2006.      Mr. Liuzzi has given master classes at most major music schools throughout the United States, and in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Korea, and China. He has been a percussion and timpani coach at the National Orchestral Institute, the New World Symphony, and the Pacific Music Festival. This is his second summer as the percussion coach at CISMA. He joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in January 1994.      Mr. Liuzzi’s early orchestral experience included the Flint Symphony Orchestra, Michigan Opera Theater Orchestra, and the Colorado Philharmonic. He has also played in the Spoleto Festival Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center Fellowship Orchestra. In July 1996 he made his solo debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Music Center, and his subscription solo debut in January 1998. He has soloed with the Sapporo Symphony, and is slated to solo with the Guangzhou Symphony, and the China Philharmonic. He is a founding member of Philorch Jazz, and performs with the DePue Brothers and the Philadelphia Orchestra Bluegrass Band. Having consulted with Yamaha on the recent development of a new model of professional timpani, Mr. Liuzzi is now a Yamaha performing artist. He is married and has two daughters.