Peter Sadlo studied at the Würzburg University of Music under Siegfried Fink between 1980 and 1984. It was during this time that Hummel met the highly talented percussionist. At the ARD Competition in 1985, Hummel’s Concerto for Percussion, Op. 70, was the set piece on the programme. Peter Sadlo won first prize and, over the course of 20 years (1986 and 2006), helped this percussion concerto achieve great success through 75 performances, all of which were universally acclaimed. Out of mutual appreciation for each other’s art, Bertold Hummel composed several works for the exceptional percussionist, whilst Peter Sadlo repeatedly championed Hummel’s most important percussion compositions with great dedication, documenting them in various radio and CD recordings. In memory of Hummel, Sadlo has composed the piece: *C’era Una Volta...* dedicated to Bertold Hummel for solo marimba.

Peter Sadlo premieres the following works:

• *Asiago* for percussion and cello, Op. 107b (2001)
• *Quattro Pezzi* for solo percussion, Op. 92 (1990)
• ‘Widmung’ for solo percussion, Op. 87g (1988)
• Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, Op. 70 (1978–1982)

Biography
Peter Sadlo grew up in Zirndorf, where his talent was recognised at an early age: in 1967 he began his classical percussion training and, at the age of just twelve, he was already receiving lessons as a guest student at what was then the Meistersinger Conservatoire in Nuremberg.

He studied under Siegfried Fink at the Würzburg University of Music. In 1982, he became principal timpanist with the Munich Philharmonic under Sergiu Celibidache, who had a lasting influence on him.

In 1983, he took up a professorship in timpani and percussion at the Munich University of Music and Performing Arts; in 1990, he was appointed professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Following his departure from the Munich Philharmonic in 1997, he performed primarily as a solo percussionist, often in chamber music ensembles, for example with Gidon Kremer or the pianist Anna Gourari, but also with the percussion ensemble Nexus.

Alongside his concert career, he also explored ways of expanding the instrument’s sonic possibilities; this was also the subject of his 1997 doctoral thesis in musicology at the University of Bucharest. Numerous contemporary composers – a body of literature composed specifically for percussion has existed since the 20th century – have written works for Peter Sadlo. Furthermore, he was actively involved in the development of new instruments (e.g. the timpani) and created his own series of mallets.

Succeeding Gidon Kremer, he served as Artistic Director of the Basel festival ‘Les muséiques’ – renowned for its high-calibre chamber music line-up – from 2007 to 2010. He had also served as artistic adviser to the Haus Marteau International Music Centre in Lichtenberg, run by the district of Upper Franconia, since 2007. He had been giving masterclasses in percussion there himself since 1989 and was the founder of the ‘Haus Marteau on Tour’ concert series.

Peter Sadlo died in July 2016 at the age of 54 following a kidney operation in a Munich hospital.
(Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sadlo 2 August 2016)