Vic Firth, a musician and educator who founded the drumstick manufacturing company that bears his name, died of pancreatic cancer July 26 in Boston. His death was confirmed in a company press release. Firth, who also served as the principal timpanist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1956 to 2002, was 85.
Everett Firth was born June 2, 1930, in Winchester, Mass., and raised in Maine. He became a percussionist in high school and had formed his own big band by age 18, performing around the New England region.
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