Matt Ritter

NYC Drumming Educator

 

Selected Performance Highlights

Rock

*  Performances in clubs throughout New York City as a member of the rock band Whirl

*  Featured on The Rhythms of New York (Manhattan Cable Television) in a half hour episode about Whirl

*  Performances in clubs throughout the New Haven, CT area as a founding member of the rock band Voodoo Café

*  Caribbean tour with The Patt Holt Singers

Jazz

*  New York City performances with jazz pianist/composer Rob Silverman.  As a member of Rob’s band, worked with jazz greats such as Patience Higgins and Ron McClure

*  Recorded with jazz pianist Peter Yarin

*  Briefly led Matt Ritter’s Jazz Of Now, with performances at Nascimento’s in New York City

Musical Theatre

*  National tour of Hello, Dolly! (performed in 32 states)

*  Subbed numerous times on the hit Off-Broadway show Gone Missing

*  Performances in numerous regional theatre and summer stock productions, often featuring Broadway stars

 

Selected Teaching Highlights

*  Teaching private drum lessons in New York City since 1996

*  One of New York City’s most in-demand drum instructors since about 2001

*  Have worked with over 400 private students and taught many thousands of individual lessons

*  Have given lessons to numerous professional drummers, including an indie rock star and a Latin Grammy Award nominee

*  Was sought out by one of the world’s most famous drumming icons for a couple of technique lessons in 2005

*  Taught in the after-school music program of the Lycee Francais from 2001 to 2005

*  Have presented drum seminars at The Dwight School and NYC Guitar School

 

Awards and Special Achievements

*  Received “Outstanding Musicianship” award from jazz great Rufus Reid after drumming for only about 2 years

*  Selected to be an endorser of Vic Firth drumsticks and a member of the Vic Firth Education Team

*  In 2005, released an instructional drumming DVD, which has received critical acclaim from numerous drum stars such as Steve Smith and David Garibaldi

*  With rock band Whirl, was runner-up out of 800 bands in the 2008 Boru Bar Band contest

 

Educational Articles

*  “The Realities of Reading” published in Modern Drummer magazine, June 2004 issue

*  “Unburying The Beater; Bass Drum Technique For Speed, Fluidity, and Dynamic Control” published in Modern Drummer magazine, December 2004 issue

*  “Go Confidently In The Direction Of Your Drums” published in Modern Drummer magazine, February 2008 issue

 

Instructional Videos

*  Wrote and produced Bass Drum Techniques For Today’s Drummer; Unburying The Beater (widely considered to be the world’s most comprehensive bass drum tutorial)

*  Worked for DCI Music Video as a production assistant on the following videos:

>Burning For Buddy

>Drum Basics

>The Complete Cymbal Guide For The Drumset with Marvin “Smitty” Smith

Education

*  University of Hartford/Hartt School Of Music:  BA Music Business Management, minor in Music, 1995

*  5-Day Intensive at The Drummers Collective, 1991

*  Long-term, ongoing private study with Tom Chapin, Konrad Kaufman, Kim Plainfield, Jim Chapin, Brad Flickinger, Bill Bachman, Michael Hinton, Ian Froman, and others

*  Short-term private study or single lessons with Bernard Purdie, John Riley, Michael Lauren, Fred Klatz, Memo Acevedo, Adriano Santos, Joe Morello, Dom Famularo, Norman Hedman, and others