PERRY DREIMAN, a native of Oakland, California, began his musical studies as a drumset player, studying in the San Francisco Bay area with Michael Lencioni and Narada Michael Walden. Although he was already a professional drummer, it was not until he became a student at California State University at Hayward that Mr. Dreiman began his orchestral percussion studies with Jerome Neff, the late Danny Montoro, and Jack van Geem.

He spent two summers at the Aspen Music Festival studying percussion with Barry Jekowsky, Michael Bookspan, and Charles Owens. Soon he became a frequent performer with the Oakland Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony, Opera, and Ballet Orchestras. He divided his time equally between the two musical worlds of drumming and percussion until joining the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1985. Mr. Dreiman has since formed the percussion quartet XYLO with members of the San Francisco Symphony and Opera Orchestras.