Originally from Los Angeles, CA, Hampton Douglas is percussionist based out of Chicago, IL, and soon to be New York City, NY. His musical career began in middle school with Band Director and percussionist Susan Willmering, who initially introduced him to percussion powerhouses She-e Wu and Christopher Lamb. Their combined musical acumen and private instruction from teacher Huei-Yuan Pan propelled him to successfully join All State and All Southern California symphonic ensembles beginning in the 7th grade. His time in high school only continued this musical trajectory. By sophomore year, he had dipped into it all. He had joined his school’s top wind ensemble and symphony orchestra, the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra (Irvine, CA), the Idyllwild Arts Symphony Orchestra (Idyllwild, CA), two musicals at Ophelia’s Jump Production (Claremont, CA), and more. As his journey continued, he began private instruction with Ken McGrath to further his development and take him to the next level.  Entering his senior year, he continued his prior musical engagements and additionally won a sublist percussion position at the American Youth Symphony (Los Angeles, CA). And only shortly after he had made the decision to attend Northwestern University to study Percussion Performance under She-e Wu and seek a minor in Data Science. While in university, Hampton’s desire to explore did not stop. He’s played in each of the major orchestras, wind ensembles, and the contemporary music ensemble, with numerous featured performances. Some highlights include playing snare drum on Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 with the Symphony Orchestra, and glockenspiel on Messiaen’s Exotic Birds and timpani on Husa’s Music for Prague with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble. Along with his classical experience, he also played percussion and drumset for multiple musical student productions, one being Mamma Mia. In his post-graduate endeavors, he recently completed a recording for a cast album of Abandon All Hope, a comedic musical, playing percussion in Chicago, IL.  With his sights set on Manhattan, NYC, Hampton will continue to pursue performing opportunities in the orchestral and theater world and teaching while working at PwC Strategy& as an associate consultant.