British born Alan Cumberland studied piano and violin from an early age and took up percussion in his teens. He performed with all the major symphony orchestras in London and was invited to join the London Philharmonic Orchestra with whom he remained for twenty years as principal timpanist. He was also Professor of Timpani at the Royal College of Music from 1970 and examiner for the Royal Schools and Trinity College London. He held masterclasses on a regular basis in Europe, USA, Asia and Australia. He served as Senior Lecturer in Timpani and Percussion and Resident Conductor at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music for 11 years, and also acted as Principal of the Young Conservatorium prior to his appointment at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 1998. As Resident Conductor of the Academy Symphony Orchestra, he has toured with the orchestra in Spain, France and England. He has conducted ten operas, and in 2003, the Academy musical "Fiddler on the Roof".