Drew is a guitarist, composer, improvisor and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. He received his Bachelors of Music in Jazz and Improvisational Music from the University of Nevada Reno and his Masters of Music in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory, where he studied with Joe Morris and Anthony Colema. Drew teaches guitar, songwriting, and composition and has an incredibly versatile music background including jazz, classical, rock, blues, reggae, R&B, hip-hop, electronic music, and improvised music.

 

Drew grew up in a musical household in Reno, Nevada with the vibrations of his father’s classical guitar and mother’s piano. He first picked up the guitar at age five playing classical etudes and popular rock songs. He later developed an interest in jazz followed by experimental, electronic, rock and improvisational music. While pursuing his undergraduate studies, Drew became a regular member of the Improvised Music Ensemble under the direction of Peter Epstein and James Winn where he performed Stockhausen, improvised soundtracks to film, and concerts of entirely improvised music. During this time he also played professionally in many genres as well as presenting his own music in Reno and Northern California. In 2013 Drew began recording and touring extensively with Yelsa, a collaborative improvisational group which performed original material drawing from rock, electronic music, and jazz among other influences.

 

Drew has with extensive experience touring in the US, Europe, and Asia and has performed at a variety of notable venues across the country including NEC’s Jordan Hall, The Lillypad, Outpost 186, Wally’s, Birdland, The Freight and Salvage, The Firehouse Space, and John Zorn’s The Stone. He also co-founded the Ad Hoc Music Series presenting improvising artists from Boston and New Haven, Connecticut as well as performing around Boston and in New York most notably at the Firehouse Space and The Stone.

With close to ten years of teaching experience, Drew has taught privately as well as given workshops at the middle school, high school, and college level both in the states and internationally throughout Asia and Europe. Drew approaches each student as an individual with their own goals, needs, experience level, and learning style. He believes in incorporating intuitive learning, music theory and listening in order to help music become second nature much like a language. He genuinely loves sharing his musical knowledge and perspective with musicians of all ages and ability levels because it makes learning music fun and accessible.