The Copper Street Brasswww.copperstreetbrass.org

Reid KennedyDrums & Percussion

Reid Kennedy is a drummer, composer, and producer based in St. Paul, Minnesota . A native of Winona, Minnesota, he was formally introduced to music through six years of classical piano training. At the age of eleven, Kennedy was awarded first place in a statewide composition contest, and the following year he enrolled as a percussionist in his beginning band program. In 2005, while attending the University of Minnesota, Kennedy won a national audition for the drum chair in the Disney All-American College Band, a select group of musicians from colleges and universities across the United States. Through this experience, he lived in Southern California for three months and performed regularly at Disneyland in Anaheim, recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, and performed with multiple studio and jazz musicians including Rick Baptist, Shelly Berg, Wayne Bergeron, Bob Florence, Alex Iles, Sal Lozano, Andy Martin, and Jiggs Whigham.

Kennedy's original music has appeared on Fox, Showtime, The Learning Channel, and WCCO Television. He has enjoyed professional collaborations with Ernestine Anderson, Katisse Buckingham, Taylor Eigsti, Mark Gross, Judith Hill, Richard Johnson, Timotha Lanae, Joe Lovano, Delfeayo Marsalis, Gunther Schuller, and Walter Smith III, among others, and has had the privilege of studying with Bernie Dresel, Peter Erskine, Jeff Hamilton, Phil Hey, Steve Houghton, Rich MacDonald, Fernando Meza, Steve Yeager, and Dave Weckl. Kennedy is currently on faculty at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota.