Drum INSTUCTOR • Don Kirby
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Don Kirby, percussion, has been drumming for 51 years and has been teaching with IMSCC since 1983. Private study with mentors Ernest Pickford, William Jamsa, Stanley Spector, Alan Dawson, and Fred Buda were undertaken over a twelve year span. At 12 years old he auditioned for George Lawrence Stone and became a member of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers. During his high school years in Leominster, he was three times chosen for MMEA Central Senior District and twice for MMEA All-State, once for band and once for orchestra. Mr. Kirby toured Europe after high school with the Concordia Wind Ensemble before enrolling in Berklee College of Music. Interests in all styles of drumming have led Mr. Kirby to a lifetime career in bands too numerous to list. He currently has an active recording and gig schedule, primarily with the Mark Marquis Group. His weekly teaching responsibilities include instruction of nearly 40 students here at IMSCC and at a private academy in Ashburnham, as well as a day in his home area in the valley of cultural fatigue |