Drew Talley is a freelance percussionist and music educator residing in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Currently, Drew serves as the Assistant Director of Percussion at Flower Mound High School within Lewisville ISD. From 2020-2023, Drew was the Assistant Director of Percussion at Wylie High School (Wylie ISD). His students have consistently placed in the TMEA All-Region/All-Area Bands, Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, and within competitive collegiate music programs. Please contact him directly for availability on masterclasses, lessons, judging, percussion repair/maintenance, and instrument rentals.
Before moving back to Texas, Drew was actively performing around Los Angeles. While in Southern California, Drew performed with the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Opera Project, Brentwood Symphony, Southern California Brass Consortium, and the Crown City Symphony. Besides symphonic performances, Drew did session work at Sony Studios, 20th Century Fox, The Bridge, Hybrid Studios in addition to other private recording studios. In 2018, the Walt Disney Company hired him as the solo percussionist for the Pixarmonic Orchestra at Disney California Adventure. As an avid pit musician, Drew kept busy with performances with the Kentwood Players, Encore Entertainers, Monrovia Light Opera, Long Beach Playhouse, and Scared Fools Theater. Beyond peforming, Drew was a Teaching Artist for the Young Musicians Foundation and maintained a private lesson studio, with students ranging from age six to adult.
Drew began studying percussion at the age of twelve. He initially focused on rudimental snare drum and drumset technique. Drew was a member of WGI (Winter Guard International) Open-Class Drumline, Virginia Helmsmen. During High School, Drew was 1st Chair All-District III in Virginia, and was a selected member for the Greater Richmond High School Jazz Band and Greater Richmond High School Youth Wind Ensemble. After High School, Drew was accepted as a Music Performance Major at the University of Texas at Arlington.
While at the University of Texas at Arlington, Drew was on performance scholarships from the Orchestral, Jazz, and Wind/Percussion departments in the School of Music He was the Principal Percussionist of the Wind Symphony, and the Principal Timpanist of the Symphony Orchestra. His mentors were: Dr. Michael Varner, Jim Yakas, and Mike Drake. In 2008, he was selected to be a member of Surround Sound, a WGI World-Class Drumline. Drew sought out private lessons with the former Fort Worth Symphony Principal Timpanist (Ed Stephan) alongside his studies at UTA, which began his orchestral training. In the four years spent in Texas, Drew was a hired musician for: Six Flags Over Texas, NFL Dallas Cowboys Rhythm and Blue Drumline, and Busch Gardens Williamsburg. In 2011, Drew performed with Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull for the CBS Thanksgiving Half-time Show in Cowboys Stadium. Drew was hired as musical theater musician for: Theater of Coppell, Oh Look Performing Arts Center, and various local high schools. After graduating cum-laude from UTA, Drew was awarded a Music Fellowship to Carnegie Mellon University.
Drew began his Masters in Music Performance at Carnegie Mellon University in 2012. While there, he studied under Jeremy Branson (Pittsburgh Symphony), Chris Allen (Pittsburgh Symphony), and Paul Evans (River City Brass Band). Drew was a member of the Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Orchestra, and Contemporary Ensemble. In 2013, Drew was asked to perform Stravinsky's L'Histoire Du Soldat as an outreach concert with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In his last year of studies, Drew enrolled in the Bagpipe and Drum Corps, and studied Scottish rudimental snare drum.
During the summers of 2013 and 2014, Drew was selected as a percussionist for the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado. He privately studied with Doug Howard (Dallas Symphony), Tom Stubbs (St. Louis Symphony), and Cynthia Yeh (Chicago Symphony). In 2014, Drew was a featured soloist with the Aspen Percussion Ensemble performing Frank Zappa's "Black Page 1 & 2" under the direction of Jon Haas.