Percussion Faculty
Michael Van Wirt
MICHAEL VAN WIRT joined the percussion section of the Colorado Symphony in 2015. He has performed with the Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Colorado Music Festival, and was a New World Symphony Fellow. Michael was also a member of Seraphic Fire’s Firebird Chamber Orchestra, serving as timpanist from 2012-2015. He is an alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, and the Alan Abel Summer Percussion Seminar.
Michael holds degrees from the University of Denver and the University of Miami. As an educator, Michael has taught at the Lamont School of Music Summer Academy, the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, and was Artist-in-Residence at the University of Northern Colorado. Michael also participates in the Colorado Symphony’s education and outreach programs, including the Master Mentor, Mini Musica, and Canta y Baila Conmigo programs. He is currently head of the percussion department at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver, where he teaches percussion, timpani, and directs the Lamont Percussion Ensemble.
Michael and his wife Elizabeth perform regularly as a percussion duo, including performances at the University of Denver, Regis University, and the Colorado Symphony’s Drums of the World concert. He is a Zildjian performing artist and clinician. In his free time, Michael enjoys skiing and hiking, completing the Colorado Trail in the summer of 2012.
Elizabeth Van Wirt
ELIZABETH VAN WIRT performs regularly as an orchestral percussionist, chamber musician and soloist. Recent engagements include the Colorado Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Grand Teton Music Festival and Colorado Music Festival. Elizabeth was the 3rd prize laureate of the prestigious Universal Marimba Competition 2011 in Belgium. She is recorded as a soloist on Ney Rosauro’s disc Early Mallet Works and was featured on the 2016 album Onyx released by the Society of Composers, Inc. In addition to her varied performance career, Elizabeth has maintained a schedule of teaching both privately and in classroom settings and is the Applied Percussion Professor at Regis University in Denver. She holds two degrees from the University of Miami Frost School of Music and a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Elizabeth lives in Denver, Colorado, and is a proud artist and endorser of Yamaha instruments and Vic Firth sticks and mallets.