Sidney Hopson

Performer, composer, orchestrator, production manager, educator, writer, labor activist, and cultural policy consultant – Sidney Hopson is a consummate arts professional.

He is a member and board member of the Grammy-nominated ensemble WildUp. A southern California native, he has performed as percussionist, timpanist, drummer, and hand percussionist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Color of Noize Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Opera, Long Beach Opera, Pasadena Symphony & POPS, New West Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, ReCollective Orchestra, San Bernardino Symphony, Southeast Symphony, and Opera Santa Barbara.

Sidney has performed at the Academy Awards, NPR’s Tiny Desk, the Coachella Festival, American Music Awards, La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, Spoleto Festival USA, Colour of Music Festival, Ojai Music Festival, Lincoln Center Festival, and the Hear Now Music Festival. He made his Kennedy Center debut at the 2023 RiverRun Festival.

Sidney has performed and recorded alongside a vast range of artists, including:
John Adams, Lorne Balfe, Adam Blackstone, Adele, Anderson.Paak, Andy Akiho, Billie Eilish, Burt Bacharach, James Conlon, Keith David, Deru, Dr. Dre, Alan Gilbert, John Debney, Bell Biv Devoe, Lamont Dozier, Earth Wind & Fire, Danny Elfman, Peter Eötvös, Rhiannon Giddens, Robert Glasper, Philip Glass, Derrick Hodge, Dev Hynes, Mickey Guyton, MC Jin, the Jacaranda Chamber Ensemble, Amanda Jones, Chaka Khan, Alicia Keys, the Kronos Quartet, Seth MacFarlane, Ricky Martin, Rickey Minor, the New York Philharmonic, Dirty Projectors, Ellen Reid, Rihanna, Mr. Craig Robinson, The Roots, Kaija Saariaho, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Rob Simonsen, Jermaine Stegall, Jordin Sparks, Dara Taylor, Joseph Trapanese, Dionne Warwick, Eric Whitacre, John Williams, Harry Gregson-Williams, Stevie Wonder, and more.

He has performed on-screen and on the soundtracks of over 100 films and TV shows, including:
Beverly Hills Cop 4: Axel F, Murderbot, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Solar Opposites, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Story Ave, Avatar: The Way of Water, Nope, Encanto, The Adam Project, RISE, The Orville, Coming 2 America, Pride (Hulu), Dolemite Is My Name, Made in Boise, Men In Black: International, The Grinch (2018), Goosebumps, Big Eyes, Kedi, and GLEE.

As a consultant, Sidney produces arts programs, strategic plans, policy, and legislation for cultural organizations, government agencies, NGOs, and arts workers in the United States and abroad. His work focuses on the intersections of the arts and human rights, social and economic justice, education, labor rights, mental health, crime prevention, counterterrorism, international development, refugee aid, geopolitics, and climate change. He has presented research at the United Nations General Assembly and the NATO Summit. He is currently developing a record label in Jordan to support refugee-artists and to bolster human rights protections across the Middle East.

Sidney currently serves on the board of directors of the Recording Musicians Association of Los Angeles (RMALA). Recently, he served on the American Federation of Musicians of the United States & Canada (AFM) Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee for motion picture & film contract negotiations with the Alliance for Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP). He is an AFM delegate to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (LA FED) and an alum of the LA FED’s Black Organizing Institute.

He has presented guest lectures and masterclasses at The Juilliard School, USC, Butler University, UCLA, CalArts, Orange County High School of the Arts, the Harvard-Westlake School, and the Music Academy of the West.

When he isn’t working, Sidney can be found reading, studying languages, hiking, laughing at his own dad jokes (he isn’t a dad), and perfecting recipes in the kitchen.

OrchestraOrchestra Sinfonica Nazionale RAI- ItalyTitlePrincipal Timpanist and Assistant Principal Timpanist