Alana Wiesing
Alana Wiesing is a multi-faceted and award-winning timpanist and percussionist from Phoenix, AZ. She holds a Master of Music degree in percussion performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, IN, where she also completed her undergraduate studies. Her primary percussion instructors were Bill Wanser and John Tafoya, and she has completed additional studies most notably and extensively with David Herbert, Cynthia Yeh, Joseph Pereira, Ed Stephan, Markus Rhoten, Richard Weiner, Jauvon Gilliam, Eric Shin, Keith Aleo, Michael Spiro, Jonathan Haas, and Doug Howard. Alana’s summer festival activities include the Eastern Music Festival (2007, 2008), the Interlochen Arts Camp (2009, 2010), the Chosen Vale International Percussion Seminar (2011), the Indiana University Summer Music Academy (2013), the National Orchestral Institute + Festival (2015, 2016), and the Aspen Music Festival & School (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019). She actively performed, recorded, and freelanced with countless orchestras and ensembles during her time in the Midwest, notably serving as the Principal Timpanist of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra as well as a regular substitute and extra percussionist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.
Alana is currently based in Tucson, AZ, where she serves as the Principal Timpanist of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. She is a passionate educator, instructing as an Adjunct Professor of Percussion at the University of Arizona School of Music and an alumni faculty member at the National Orchestral Institute + Festival as well as operating her private teaching studio. Since her arrival in Tucson, Alana has presented masterclasses and clinics for the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), National Orchestral Institute + Festival, Interlochen Arts Camp, the Network for Diversity in Concert Percussion (NDCP), Virtual Percussion Music Festival (VPMF), Two Rivers Timpani Summit, Eastman School of Music, Michigan State University, Arizona State University, George Mason University, University of Florida, Northern Arizona University, Western Carolina University, Benedict College, Eastern New Mexico University, the Arizona PAS Day of Percussion, and the University of Arizona. Alana has been a guest Principal Timpanist with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., she performs as the Principal Timpanist with the Arizona Musicfest Festival Orchestra, Sphinx Competition Orchestra, and Gateways Festival Orchestra, and she also plays timpani and percussion with the modern orchestra at the Oregon Bach Festival. Additionally, she has appeared as a featured concerto soloist with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic.
Alana presently serves as the President and Chair of the Board of Directors for the Network for Diversity in Concert Percussion (NDCP) – a collective of performers, educators, and businesses who serve as a resource for, and support to, aspiring professional percussionists from underrepresented and underserved communities in an effort to improve equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the concert percussion community. She also serves as the Chair for the Regional Orchestra Players’ Association (ROPA) EDI Workgroup, inspiring and effecting positive progress for dozens of professional orchestras at the national level. Alana participated in a virtual roundtable to discuss breaking racial barriers in the education and performance worlds through the Percussive Arts Society and its Diversity Alliance, and she has appeared on numerous podcasts and platforms to discuss these topics of personal impact. Additionally, she serves as a member of the executive board of ROPA as the delegate-at-large to the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) convention as well as the Vice President of the Tucson Federation of Musicians (TFM, Local 33).
Alana proudly uses and endorses Freer Percussion and Black Swamp Percussion products. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, biking, running, swimming, cooking, playing and watching sports (notably tennis and ultimate frisbee), attending museums and concerts, playing board games and trivia, listening to all genres of music, trying new restaurants, and spending quality time with family and friends.
