MORRIS LANG

LANG--Morris ("Arnie"). Morris ("Arnie") Lang died on July 5, 2021, suddenly, at the age of 90. Born in the Bronx, he was drawn to drums despite his non-musical family. After starting lessons at age 10 he played in a club-date band and at hotels in the Catskills before studying with legendary percussionist Saul Goodman and at The Juilliard School. After graduating he performed as a freelancer, including in the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and Radio City Music Hall Orchestra. Arnie became Percussionist / Assistant Principal Timpani of the New York Philharmonic (1955-96), joining what he called the "PAS Hall of Fame" (with Goodman, Buster Bailey, and Walter Rosenberger). He appeared in about 5,000 Philharmonic concerts, under the leadership of Dimitri Mitropoulos, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, as well as televised performances hosted by Leonard Bernstein, and in more than 50 recordings and on more than 30 tours. He made the first recording of Elliott Carter's Eight Pieces for Timpani. He taught at NY College of Music, NYU, Manhattan School, Kingsborough College, Oberlin, KOSA, and Lehman College; served as a professor at Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, where he instituted the Percussion Ensemble and toured with his students. He also pioneered a student exchange program with Dublin's Royal Academy of Music. Arnie's devotion to percussion led to his writing 10 books, many articles, and publishing teaching methods; and making percussion equipment, partnering with Saul Goodman on his famous timpani, reproducing Gladstone snare drums, and, on retiring from the Philharmonic, devoting more time to the Lang Percussion Company. As Arnie said: "Life as a musician is GREAT." He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; his son, David; and his five grandchildren.