About Ward Spangler
Ward Spangler is an active musician throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, performing diverse styles of music. He is Principal Percussionist with the Berkeley Symphony, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Fremont Symphony, and is a member of the Marin Symphony. Ward is also a member of the Cabrillo Music Festival of Contemporary Music, performing as Principal Percussionist with conductors Dennis Russell Davies, John Adams, and Marin Alsop. He has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, and California Symphony.
As a soloist Ward has premiered several pieces composed for him. In 2002 he performed the percussion concerto “Different Worlds of Sound” by David Sheinfeld with the Berkeley Symphony. Also in 2008 he premiered the percussion solo “Secret Wine” composed for him by Hy Kyung Kim. Ward performed “Allegro non Troppo” for percussion soloist and electronic tape composed by Unsuk Chin , performances in Berkeley, Ojai California, and Berlin (2005). In 2007 Ward was invited by Michael Morgan to perform the “Water Concerto” by Tan Dun with the Oakland Symphony.
Ward has many recordings out including work with The Cabrillo Music Festival for Contemporary Music, Berkeley Symphony, Oakland Symphony, The Manufacturing of Humidifiers, and Daniel Popsicle under the leadership of Dan Plonsey.
Ward received both his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music at California State University, Hayward, where he studied with Jerry Neff from 1972 to 1978. Jerry got a lot of practice scratching his beard (and head) while Ward got inspiration from a passionate musician and teacher. He also studied with Jack Van Geem (Principal Percussionist with the San Francisco Symphony), and Danny Montoro.
Ward has long been interested in the idea of playing music in conjunction with yoga, one of his other passions. In 2018 he was able to collaborate with Lilia Roman and Anja Borgstrom and has developed his own sound bath experience.
Yoga and Sound Healing Retreat at Green Gulch