SDSU alumnus donates rare percussion collection to School of Music and Dance

Pat Pfiffner performs on mallet percussion during a concert. Throughout his career, Pfiffner has been recognized for his contributions to percussion performance, music education, and the performing arts. Photo courtesy of Pat Pfiffner. 

SDSU NewsCenter | By Frances Kowal

Before he performed for Broadway productions and some of the entertainment industry’s biggest names, Pat Pfiffner was balancing graduate school, nightclub gigs and family life while building a future in music.

“I was working six nights a week at a nightclub,” Pfiffner said. “I went from being a drum set player to a percussionist at San Diego State, and knowing that in order to make a living, I needed to be more versatile than playing a drum set.”

Decades later, the San Diego State University alumnus has built an inspiring career playing with symphony orchestras, touring Broadway productions and performing with legendary artists including Sammy Davis Jr., Bob Hope, Tony Bennett, Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli. Among his career highlights, Pfiffner performed works from iconic films like "Star Wars" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" conducted by legendary composer John Williams.

Now, Pfiffner is giving part of that legacy back to the next generation of SDSU musicians through the donation of several valuable percussion instruments to the School of Music and Dance.

Originally from Wisconsin, Pfiffner relocated when the Navy stationed him in San Diego. It was there he eventually enrolled at SDSU, where he earned a bachelor's degree in music in 1976 and a master's degree in music in 1977. While attending SDSU, he shifted from playing the drum set in local clubs to pursuing percussion performance more seriously, realizing that versatility would create greater opportunities in the music industry.

While attending SDSU, Pfiffner found mentorship that inspired the course of his career and connected him to San Diego’s professional music scene. 

“My biggest influence was Stanley Mitchell, who was a percussion teacher at San Diego State for many, many years,” Pfiffner said. “He actually, as well as mentoring me through all this stuff at San Diego State, connected me to Jim Hoffman at the San Diego Symphony.”

That connection launched a career that spanned more than four decades in Southern California’s music community. Pfiffner began playing as an extra with the San Diego Symphony in 1972 and quickly established himself as a leading percussionist for Broadway national tours in local venues such as the Civic Theatre, Old Globe Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse. Throughout his career, he performed in the pit for more than 140 different Broadway-style productions, including "Wicked," "The Producers," and "Mary Poppins." Notably, Pfiffner was the original drummer during the early development and pre-Broadway run of "Thoroughly Modern Millie," starring Sutton Foster. 

Pfiffner has shared the stage with more than 100 major entertainers, performing multiple times alongside Sammy Davis Jr., whom he considers the greatest entertainer of all time and a really nice guy.

“Back in the '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s, these were the stars of the world,” Pfiffner said. “And I played with virtually all of them.”

Over his time, Pfiffner became known throughout Southern California for collecting high-quality percussion instruments used in professional orchestras and productions. 

“... any musician wants to play on the best instrument,” Pfiffner said. “So my quest was to find the best instruments, and I managed to do that.” 

Many of the donated instruments traveled with him throughout his career and were played in performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall and while he served as the principal percussionist for the San Diego Chamber Orchestra. 

Now retired, Pfiffner chose to give back to his alma mater.

“I thought, well, how about doing a legacy gift to San Diego State, because it was so influential for me,” Pfiffner said. 

The donation features premier vintage instruments dating back to the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s, including a set of symphony timpani and two rare xylophones valued at around $6,000 each.

“These are the Stradivarius of the xylophone world,” Pfiffner said. 

What makes these specific instruments stand out is that they are crafted from Honduras rosewood, a material Pfiffner explained creates a unique, seasoned resonance that modern synthetic instruments cannot replicate. 

“The sound of these instruments is appreciably different than the new instruments coming out,” Pfiffner said.

Some of the donated instruments carry their own history within San Diego’s music community. Pfiffner inherited three of the four timpani from Leo Hamilton, a prominent local percussionist and timpanist who performed with both the San Diego Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Shannon Kitelinger, Director of the School of Music and Dance, said the donation provides students with access to professional-quality equipment while preserving instruments that have already been used at the highest levels of the profession. 

“Every time we're able to add to that inventory, it's really fantastic, especially when we're able to add instruments of this quality that we know have been cared for,” Kitelinger said.

Kitelinger added that the gift is especially meaningful because it connects current students with both the profession and an alumnus whose career helped shape San Diego’s music community. 

“I think it's also just special because of the story that goes along with them being one of our alumni and just of being a force in the area as a percussionist,” Kitelinger said.

Having spent 36 years as a percussion instructor at Point Loma Nazarene University as well as teaching at Mesa and Grossmont colleges, Pfiffner encourages students to follow their dreams, but stresses that doing so requires dedication and putting in the time.

To build his own professional skill, he spent years practicing five to eight hours a day to ensure he could play any piece on any percussion instrument at a moment's notice.

"The music business at the level I played doesn’t give you time to rehearse a piece over and over like in high school or college," Pfiffner said. "You get one shot at it at rehearsal, then a show. Sometimes you read the music for the first time at a rehearsal."

His final advice for current students is to “just practice as much as you can, learn as much as you can,” and “feel enjoyment and privilege to be able to play on these wonderful instruments because there’s not that many out there.”

Pfiffner envisions the SDSU’s School of Music and Dance as a permanent, protective environment where the collection will remain preserved and appreciated.