![]() Throughout his high school and college years, he played drums and sang in several rock and jazz bands, playing gigs from Montreal to New Orleans. He grew up in New Providence, NJ, and graduated from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA in 1994. Kurt Koester is a drummer, singer, and songwriter who lives in Warren, NJ. The more time a student spends in front of a teacher and playing with other musicians, the better they’ll become. In addition to encouraging participation in all School of Rock programs, Mike also pushes for active involvement in a student’s scholastic music programs such concert band, jazz band, and marching band. He ensures that all his students are taught universal musical concepts such as theory, aural skills, and musicianship and that his students can all read and write sheet music. He demands for all his students to be well-rounded musicians and refuses to call his students “drummers” as he feels the word “percussionist” is a far moreįitting term. ![]() Tastes are, he exposes every student to Jazz, orchestral, Latin, Reggae, and rudimental styles of drumming. Though he considers what a student’s music He takes a “new-old school” approach in the classroom, blending old school methods and subjects with modern technology and curriculum. Over the course of his career, Mike has shared the stage with internationally recognized bands, names, and ensembles including: REO Speedwagon, 3 Doors Down, Kansas, Don Felder, Tracii Guns, the New Jersey Wind Symphony, and many more at renowned venues like Lucas Oil Stadium, MetLife Stadium, Starland Ballroom, The Stone Pony, Highline Ballroom, The Javits Center, Carnegie Hall, NJPAC, and more.Īs an educator, Mike has taught students as young as 5 and as old as 70. Mike also spent four years as the section leader of the Ramapo College Concert Band and was a founding member of the Ramapo College Percussion Ensemble. At Ramapo, he was an in-demand session drummer being consistently called on by students and faculty alike to play drums on many recording projects and served as a hired percussionist for the drama department and choral ensembles. in Music Industry (Business) from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After high school, he went on to earn his B.A. ![]() He was a snare drummer in the BRHS Drumline which consistently won “Best Percussion” awards in the USBands competitive circuit for the duration of his four years. Recognized BRHS Wind Ensemble and BRHS Symphony Orchestra as a percussionist. He graduated from Bridgewater-Raritan High School in 2017 and was a member of the award winning and nationally This shared experience with the current students has allowed Mike to develop a close bond with everyone he teaches and enables him to better craft a curriculum that suitsĮach individual student’s wants and needs.Īs a drummer for 15 years, Mike has grown proficient in many different genres including Rock, Country, Metal, Jazz, Orchestral, and more. As Somerville School of Rock alumni, he vividly remembers what it was like to be a student trying to balance learning and improving on the instrument, learning material for performance and house band, school assignments, and other extracurricular activities. Mike Avin is a percussionist, composer, and educator from Bridgewater, NJ. Some of his music has been featured on Comedy Central, and he hosts a funk and jam band jam at Roxy and Duke’s in Dunellen, NJ every second Thursday of the month. He enjoys teaching multi-instrument students to share overlapping concepts among the different instruments and helps students record their own musical projects. This is in addition to teaching piano, drums, guitar, and bass. He is also the music director for Antioch Baptist Church in East Orange, NJ.Īctively using Ableton Live to perform and compose, Robbie is a sought-after music programming guru, able to teach and solve complex audio and midi setups for live bands and music producers. His main instrument is keyboards, which he actively plays in the bands like Ross Griswold and the Second Line, Woke Robot, Wig Party, Castle Lane, and more, spanning genres from rock, funk, New Orleans, and R&B to Afro-Peruvian jazz fusion and electronic music. Robbie Skorge is a multi-instrumentalist performer, teacher, and composer from Somerville, NJ.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |