Pitch-perfect addition: 26-year-old timpani player CSO's newest musician

The timpani, sometimes called kettledrums, are a set of four or five large copper drums with adjustable pitch.

The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera’s new principal timpanist is a 26-year-old man from Ellicott City, Md. Rob Hudson moved to Chattanooga in October to play with the CSO.

“(Playing music is) really the only thing I’ve wanted to do, ever since I was young,” he said. Mr. Hudson was a freelance musician before taking the job with the CSO, his first full-time gig.

Q: How did you get into playing?

A: I was pretty much born a drummer. There are pictures of me at 3 years old playing pots and pans in the laundry room. For a long time I wanted to be a rock ’n’ roll drummer like a million kids do. My dad played in rock bands in college and high school. When I got to elementary school, I signed up for band, but in order to play drums, you also have to play other instruments like glockenspiel. I got to middle school, and my band director thought I played drums well, so he decided to show me the basics (of the timpani).

Q: Describe the life of a freelance musician.

A: It’s a lot of driving. I played with (several symphonies around Maryland). I played a lot of musicals. I did a lot of church gigs. I did some recording sessions. It’s a very unpredictable work schedule.

Q: What is the CSO audition process like?

A: It’s not a typical interview process. They didn’t see me until they’d hired me. They put up a screen and had to go entirely by ear. The idea is to prevent favoritism, say if somebody teaches a certain student or somebody knows somebody. (They often) specifically mention that female candidates shouldn’t wear high heels because people can hear that, and they don’t want it to affect any of their decisions. It’s a completely blind process. This was a three-round audition. It went from about 9 in the morning to 7 at night.

Q: Besides playing the timpani, what do you enjoy?

A: I’m pretty into cycling, which is cool because Chattanooga is a good town for cycling. I haven’t raced, but I’ve done some centuries (100 miles in a day). I like all kinds of music. The Beatles and the Beach Boys almost started their own brand of classical music out of rock music. Ironically for a drummer, I really love good vocal harmonies. I like the Dave Brubeck Quartet, especially Joe Morello, who plays drums like it’s a real musical instrument, which is really what I’m hoping to achieve. If you’re not careful, the drums can become these noisemakers, but if you have a nice touch, you can get a surprisingly beautiful sound out of the drums.

Q: How does the CSO compare to some other orchestras you’ve been with?

A: Regional orchestras in this country play at an astonishingly high level. We have some musicians in the CSO that I would rank with any in the country.