School of Music Faculty

Kevin Garry

Part-Time Faculty, Percussion

Kevin Garry currently performs in the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. Prior to joining the JSO, Garry was a member of the New World Symphony (Miami Beach) where he performed regularly under the leadership of Michael Tilson Thomas. While living in Michigan, Garry was Principal Percussionist with the Flint Symphony Orchestra (1988-1991) and a member of the Saginaw Symphony and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. In 1992, Garry was elected by his colleagues to be the recipient of the "New World Symphony's Community Board Award for Leadership and Artistic Excellence."

Garry started drumming in the fourth grade as a member of the Colonial Musketeers Fife and Drum Corps while growing up in Hackettstown, New Jersey. He remained with the group for eight years marching in parades festivals and competitions. Garry won the "New Jersey State Rudimental Snare Drum Championship" in 1979 and 1981. His primary rudimental snare drum instructors were famed DCI instructor Bobby Thompson and Peter Hubert. Throughout middle school and high school, Garry studied snare drum and drum set with Vincent "Muzzy" Mizzoni, and studied timpani and keyboard percussion with Alfred Jorgensen, timpanist with the New Jersey State Opera. During his college years, Garry performed with Disney's All-American College Band (1986), the American Waterways Wind Orchestra (1987), the National Repertory Orchestra (1988), Summit Brass (1988), and the Pacific Music Festival (1991). He graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in Biology and a B.M. in Percussion Performance. While at Oberlin, Kevin studied with Michael Rosen. He received his Masters Degree from the University of Michigan where he studied with Dr. Michael Udow and Salvatore Rabbio.

Garry taught in the percussion department at Stetson University from 2005-2010, and currently teaches at Florida State College at Jacksonville, serves as an adjunct instructor at the University of North Florida and maintains a large private studio in the Jacksonville area

Contact: (904) 620-5765 | k.garry@unf.edu