by Natalie Baker
It’s been two whirlwind months since we at Tom Tom Magazine launched our newest endeavor, the Tom Tom Academy. Like many of you know, the Tom Tom Academy is our exciting new drum school run by female drum instructors, with the flagship lesson studio located in Brooklyn and plans to expand to other cities in the near future. But that’s enough history for now.
Here’s what’s been going on at the academy over the past two months:
Thanks to our friends at The Wick we were able to start teaching lessons on their stage in October while we were working on preparing our permanent lesson studio. Here’s our first student, Clara, rehearsing with head instructor Mickey Vershbow:
Meanwhile, work was underway in the room that would soon become the first Tom Tom Academy lesson studio. Here’s what the studio looks like now that we’ve finished renovation:
We’ve also brought new instructors onto the team, each bringing their own strengths and specialties to lessons. In addition to our head instructor Mickey, we now have Gabriela Jimeno and Maria Schettino teaching private lessons for the academy. Read their bios on the staff page over at tomtomacademy.com.
We’re also very excited to announce our first workshop, which will be led by Kris Lee, full-time cast member of the off-Broadway sensation STOMP (and featured in issue 18 of the magazine).
Join the Tom Tom crew on Saturday, December 20th for an afternoon of STOMP-inspired music-making with everything from trashcan lids to brooms to buckets. Details and tickets are at tomtomacademy.com/stomp. And since we love you all, we’re offering all of you $5 off your ticket. Just type ‘TOMTOM’ into the promo code section at checkout.
Lastly, if you live in NYC and have been meaning to scope out the Tom Tom Academy, mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 17. We’ll be opening up the academy and the Tom Tom office to the public, and we’d love to see you there. Join us at 6pm for free mini drum lessons, snacks, drinks from our friends at Kombrewcha, and some other good stuff. RSVP on Facebook or by emailing tomtomacademy@gmail.
Natalie Baker is the director of Tom Tom Academy. Look for more updates from the Tom Tom Academy folks in the near future.