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The Rosenthals of Rockville insisted that their children take music lessons. Not surprisingly, piano was the first instrument to which Jay and his older sister were introduced. Neither found it satisfying. While Becky proceeded to play saxophone, and abandoned that in due course, Jay sought a ‘‘more aggressive” instrument, he says in retrospect.

The aspiring drummer took lessons at Music & Arts in Rockville, then private instruction, and even resorted to making instruments of his family’s pots and pans until acquiring his first drum set.

Rosenthal has come a long way since then. On Sunday afternoon, he and three fellow professional percussionists — Marty Grossman, Mike Smirnoff and Tom Wagner — will present ‘‘JPERCUSSION,” a concert of solo and ensemble music, in the Kreeger Auditorium of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington (JCC) in Rockville. Their program will feature nine pieces, including Rosenthal’s own ‘‘Snap, Crackle, Pop,” performed on the tar, a simple hand drum on which the numerous sounds can be produced depending on the way it is struck.

‘‘You can hit the drum and rebound, or hit the drum and choke it. You can snap, roll your fingers, brush your hand on the drum,” Rosenthal explains.

The concert will expose the audience to the broad spectrum of instrumentation, techniques and sounds of percussion.

‘‘There will be melodic pieces and drumming pieces on over 70 different percussion instruments. The instruments will be hit with two sticks, four sticks, and bare hands, which creates an enormous variety both sonically and visually to make the show not just a concert, but also theater,” Rosenthal says.

Among the instruments are marimba, vibraphone, woodblocks and every manner of drum, to name just a few (really). Another of Sunday’s scheduled pieces, Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic’s 18-minute-long ‘‘The Castle of the Mad King,” is performed on a special set-up of 52 different instruments including wind chimes, tom-tom, bass drum, splash and crash cymbals, opera gongs, a rain stick (made by Rosenthal’s engineer father) and a thunder sheet.

Rosenthal met the marimba at New England Music Camp during the summer after seventh grade. The instrument’s keys, typically made of wood, are arranged much like a piano’s; the keys are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. It’s pitched an octave lower than its cousin, the xylophone.

Rosenthal came home from camp anxious to learn more, and fortuitously, the JCC had just the teacher: the late Nora Davenport, a Kennedy Center Opera House percussionist who placed him in ‘‘a challenging percussion ensemble.” The composition ‘‘Africa,” which Davenport wrote for Rosenthal and three other students in 1996, will be the finale of Sunday’s program.

Back in sixth grade at the Green Acres School, Rosenthal and some fellow students formed a rock band called Shades of Gray. ‘‘We were terrible,” he admits. As an eighth-grader, he recalls being so consumed with his music that he felt compelled to give up tennis.

Still, Rosenthal’s musical commitments continued to grow. During his Richard Montgomery High School (RM) years, he not only played in rock bands, but also took part in the county honors and RM jazz ensembles, the JCC’s percussion ensemble and The Federal Focus Jazz Band.

It is no surprise, then, that at the University of Maryland (UM), Rosenthal says he ‘‘was a member of nearly every available instrumental ensemble,” and there were many. He lists the Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Marimba Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Philharmonia Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, Chris Vadla’s 5:30 Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab Band, and Steve Fidyk’s Jazz Combo. Those years weren’t devoted solely to playing music; he performed as a juggler at the Maryland Renaissance Festival for four years, and was part of a comedy⁄juggling duo for two.

Since graduating from UM in 2003, with a bachelor of music performance and a bachelor of arts in English language and literature, the percussionist has focused on building a career. Rosenthal plays in rock bands, jazz groups and orchestras, serving as principal percussionist for the touring Mantovani Orchestra. He commissioned high school friend Chappell Kingsland’s ‘‘Laundromatica Diabolica” (The Devil’s Laundromat) for solo vibraphone, and gave its world premiere performance, which took first prize in the 2004 Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest. (It’s also on Sunday’s program.) And he is on faculty of the DC Youth Orchestra Program and the JCC, and gives private lessons in his studio.

Rosenthal hopes that this concert and the video he has commissioned of it will be a ‘‘catalyst” for his career as a soloist, as he applies for grants to support more compositions and concerts.

Through it all, Beth and Jack Rosenthal support their son in every possible way, from selling tickets to creating instruments. Their basement is the site for practices and rehearsals, the 52-piece ‘‘Castle” set-up fills what was once their living room. That Rockville neighborhood — as well as the JCC in Rockville on Sunday — are alive with the sounds of a truly different kind of music.

‘‘JPERCUSSION” begins at 4 p.m. Sunday in the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington’s Kreeger Auditorium, 6125 Montrose Road, Rockville. Tickets, $15, may be ordered online by credit card through Saturday at www.jpercussion.com or purchased, cash only, at the door. Call 301-351-9406.