Rock, Jazz, Classical, Marching, Irish/Newfoundland (Kit or Bodhran), Cajon, Hand Drums and more! Thanks to the various backgrounds of our highly trained and experienced Percussion/Drum instructors you may choose to play just about any style of music you want. Our instructors stress proper technique and teach students how to read music and play by ear. While typically most can start drums around age seven, we have accepted drum students as young as four years old. Male, Female, Adults and Seniors are all welcome – drumming has proven to offer both physical and mental benefits.
Meet our Percussion Instructors »
Overview of Private Lessons »
Drum and Percussion Teachers
Bryan Efford – Percussion, Drums, Drum Line Director
Bryan has been studying and performing as a percussionist for over 20 years. Bryan has studied with notable educators Robert Power and Don Wherry. With a great love of marching and military band music, Bryan has been a proud member of the CLB Regimental Band since 1992. Bryan was a principal accompanist with the Mount Pearl Show Choir for 23 years and has performed on several tours with them including Japan, Europe and Disney World.In musical theatre, Bryan has also played drums for Etcetera productions successful adaptations of Sussical, Godspell and Shrek The Musical.In rock and pop, Bryan has performed with many groups and is currently performing with popular cover band Redline.Bryan has been teaching for over 18 years and in 2004 founded The Music Collection Drumline which has become a respected youth music program in the north east Avalon.
Jon Lane – Percussion, Drums, Guitar
Jon has been teaching drum set, percussion and guitar for over twenty one years and has been playing since age seven. He currently performs and records with several groups including 709, DC-3, Lori Cooper Band and The Outfit. In the past he’s performed with Amelia Curran, Jeff Dyer, Spirit of Newfoundland and has been house drummer for Blues legends Tony D, John Campbell, Roger Howse and Eddie Kirkland. Jon got his percussive start with Gower Youth Band and played guitar for five years with Sheila Williams in The Castaways, performing for kids and adults aboard the gulf ferries Joseph and Clara Smallwood and The Caribou.
Christopher Parsons – Studio Director, Percussion, Drums
One of The Music Collection’s first teachers, Chris has been teaching percussion for over twenty five years. In 1997 he graduated with a Bachelor of Music from MUN School of Music, studying with Don Wherry. Chris has performed with several groups including The Scruncheons, MUN Concert Band, Gower Community Band and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. He is also a multi award winning composer and multimedia developer. Christopher is currently also responsible for Music Collection’s studio administration and coordination.
Marijn Emanuel Companjen – Cajon, Udo, Guitar, Classical Guitar, Flamenco Guitar, Ukelele
Marijn “Manny” Emanuel was born in The Netherlands and has studied and performed in Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Canada. Manny teaches Classical and Flamenco guitar, Rock guitar to name a view disciplines but also a ukulele group and cajon. His repertoire is a compilation of Flamenco, Spanish, Classic, Jazz, Blues, Rock and Folk music and brings twenty years of teaching experience. Manny began his training with his first guitar lessons at the age of five. He studied classical guitar with Louis Ignatius Gall a student of master guitarist Andres Segovia at Conservatorium Hogeschool, a renowned musical conservatory in The Netherlands. In 1994, he began taking lessons in Flamenco guitar. It conquered his heart and led him to study with triple Concurso de Cordoba winner Paco Serrano, Spain and with flamenco guitarist and master Luthier Francisco Manuel Diaz in Granada, Spain. Manny is also an accomplished flamenco percussionist, having extensive experience playing both the cajon and the udo. His professional flamenco career started in 1996 when he became a guitarist and percussionist for the flamenco group Potage. He has also been a member of: Norte y Sur (1999) and Fuego Andaluz (2001-05). Manny’s has been performing, and accompanying Flamenco dance classes for over two decades and has worked extensively with renowned flamenco dancers, singers, guitarists and percussionists around the world. He has toured with the Televised Paperclip Magazine Tour, a rock and jazz group in The Netherlands in 1996. Manny moved to St. John’s in 2005 and has made local appearances performing with the World Jazz Orchestra at the St. John’s Jazz Festival (2005), as Featured Performer in TADA productions Our Divas do Christmas III (2007), Sound Symposium’s World on a String concert (2011), collaborated with Karen Kaeja, Memorial University’s Dancer in Residence, and a group of local dancers on Touch, Memory and Solitude in Improvised Dance (2014), performed in Invocacion Y Danza, a live music and dance concert conceptualized by guitarist Sylvie Proulx, and featuring original choreographies by Christina Penney, Colleen Quigley and Corie Harnett (2016).” Manny has performed with many celebrated local musicians like Juno award winner Duane Andrews and appeared several times on Roger’s Channel 9 Out of the Fog and CBC Radio in the past seven years. Manny holds a Bachelors of Music from Memorial University.
How to reach us:
St. John’s, Torbay Road 738-2982 [email protected]
Mount Pearl 368-0789 [email protected]
Private Music Lessons
Available for all ages, levels and styles provided by qualified, professional, talented teachers. Fully equipped, newly renovated studios. Choose an instrument below or click to find out more...
Groups / Ensembles
Enabling students a chance to apply their skills in a group, rehearsing and performing together. Inspiring, yet fun and informal. Drumline, Vocal Performance, Rock Band or Ukelele. Find out more...
