Wesley Sumpter

Wesley Sumpter is a percussionist and drummer from Atlanta, GA and is a percussion fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He holds a bachelor's degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Georgia studying with Timothy Adams Jr. and Kimberly Toscano-Adams. Wesley began his master's degree at the University of Southern California in 2017 studying with James Babor and Joseph Pereira and then auditioned for his current fellowship. Wesley has performed as percussionist and timpanist with the Louisiana Philharmonic, Santa Barbara Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He can be heard on a number of the LA Phil's most recent recordings spanning from John Williams to Charles Ives to John Adams.

Wesley is a member of Lineage: a percussion trio started with fellow UGA percussionists, Lauren Floyd and Trevor Barroero. The goal of Lineage is to expand the boundaries of percussion repertoire written for the trio configuration and commission new composers. They are endorsed by Black Swamp Percussion and Mike Balter Mallets. Wesley can also be heard playing drums on multiple recordings with his band, Misnomer.

Wesley is featured on Alfred Music's instructional DVD entitled Sound Percussion. Wesley would also like to attribute his growth and success to his life-long mentors: Robert Jeffrey, Sr., William Earvin, Sr., William Oliver, and his father, Alfonza Sumpter, Jr.