Education
Bachelor of Music in timpani and percussion, Cleveland Institute of Music
Profile
Brandon Podjasek is a Broadway/classical/pop musician. He has performed for Broadway in Chicago since 2010, having done such shows as “Wicked,” “Mary Poppins,” “Young Frankenstein,” and “Beautiful.” He is a regular at the Historic Paramount Theater in Aurora, Illinois, where he has performed “The Little Mermaid,” “Mama Mia,” “Legally Blonde,” and others. He is the principal percussionist of the City Lights Orchestra and a regular at AWR productions. With these ensembles, Podjasek has backed such artists as: Sting, Eddie Vedder, Billy Idol, Pete Townsend, Adam Levine, and more.
Podjasek also has the pleasure of playing principal timpani/percussion for Chicago’s Haymarket Opera Company. He’s performed on such PBS productions as: “A Christmas Carol: The Concert,” “The 2015 Horatio Alger Awards,” and “I am Ireland.” He has recorded overdubs for 20th Century Fox, Final Fantasy Distant Worlds, and the Final Fantasy VII Remake orchestral album.
Podjasek earned a Bachelor of Music in timpani and percussion from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is on faculty and coaches chamber music at the Merit School of Music and is also a product artist at Pearl.
Honors & Awards
2015 Honorable Mention, 2016 2nd Place, and 2018 2nd place at
the Rembrandt Chamber Music Competition, Evanston IL
2016 1st place Winds/Brass/Percussion division and 2018 2nd place at the A.N & Pearl G. Chamber Music
Competition, Chicago IL
2018 3rd Place University of Michigan M-Prize, Junior Open
Division