Jack Van Geem, Faculty

Jack Van Geem has been Principal Percussionist with the San Francisco Symphony since 1980. He is the Chairman of Percussion Studies at the San Francisco Conservatory, and teaches percussion at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, California. He has taught at every Zeltsman Marimba Festival except one since 2001. Van Geem began playing the marimba at age four. He studied percussion with Tony Cirone and Jerome Neff, earning his Master of Arts degree from California State University at Hayward. He studied contemporary percussion performance with Cristoph Caskel in Germany in the mid-70s on a scholarship from the University of California at Berkeley. Following that, he was percussionist for the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra until he won the SFS position. Van Geem is the author/composer of three books: Symphonic Repertoire for Keyboard Percussion, Four Mallet Democracy, and Rags and Hot Choruses. He has released a duo marimba CD with Nancy Zeltsman, Pedro and Olga Learn to Dance, and recently recorded a marimba solo CD featuring works of Latin American composers. Before deciding on a career in music, Van Geem thought he would be a doctor and spent many hours studying anatomy and physiology. An avid cyclist, he typically rides over 5000 miles a year. He is also experienced in winemaking, woodworking and is himself building a retirement home in Mendocino, California.