Ted Atkatz

Ted Atkatz is a percussionist, composer, recording artist, educator, and singer-songwriter whose career moves freely between the orchestral stage, the recording studio, and alternative rock. A former Principal Percussionist and Assistant Timpanist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Atkatz has performed with ensembles including the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Pacific Symphony, and has appeared on more than seventy motion-picture soundtracks.

Atkatz is also the founder and frontman of NYCO. He left the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2006 to devote more time to the band, whose catalog includes Two, Realize, Future Imperfect, and the 2025 album A Square Beyond. Based in Los Angeles, Atkatz continues to perform and record while leading percussion programs at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music and the Colburn School and directing the Ted Atkatz Percussion Seminar.