Teaching Staff

Matt Savage

Matt Savage has been playing drums for more than 31 years and currently serves as the director of marching percussion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam and his Masters degree in Percussion Performance from USC. He has taught at every level of public education, from elementary to the college level. Additionally, he has played snare drum with the legendary Bayonne Bridgemen and served as percussion director and arranger for drum and bugle corps such as The Anaheim Velvet Knights, The Dutchboy of Kitchener, Ontario and The Canton Bluecoats.

In addition to being a marching percussion specialist, Savage is heavily involved with indoor percussion activity as an adjudicator for Winter Guard International. Matt is also the author of "Savage Rudimental Workshop" published by Warner Bros. Music along with being a drum circle facilitator and the creator of the Matt Savage line of marching percussion sticks by Pro-Mark Drumstick Company.

Alan Keown

Alan Keown is a noted percussionist and teacher in the Pacific Northwest. As a performer he has worked with the Smothers Brothers, Suzanne Sommers, Sharri Lewis, the Britt Festival orchestra and numerous symphony orchestras including the reknowned Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra. As a drum set artist he has performed in concerts and nightclubs throughout the Northwest, as well as recording studio dates for albums, jingles, and video projects.

He is a frequent consultant to high school and college band programs, and has been involved with Ted Turner's Goodwill Games as well as the competitive tour sponsored by Drum Corps International.

Alan is a clinician for Yamaha Drums and Promark drumsticks, as well as the marching percussion specialist for several Salem, Oregon high schools. He is also the founder of the Alan Keown Marching Percussion Camp, currently held in Oregon and Hawaii.

Mr. Keown publishes marching band music with Matrix Publishing Company and concert percussion literature with Warner Brothers Publications.

Amy Savage

Amy Savage, a Professional Percussion Specialist living in Chapel Hill NC, is an educator, performer, arranger, composer, and clinician active in the development of the contemporary concert and marching percussion ensemble. Currently, Amy serves as percussion consultant and instructor for several high school marching band programs in the Raleigh-Durham area and the Southaven Band in Mississippi. In the summer, she teaches at Yamaha Sounds of Summer Marching Percussion Camps for Matt Savage in NC and Alan Keown in OR, and the University of North Carolina Percussion Camp in Chapel Hill. In the winter, she serves as an adjudicator for the Atlantic Indoor Association.

Previously Amy was a full time Percussion Specialist with the award winning Concord High School Band in Indiana. Her lesson studio includes students of beginning to advanced levels throughout the US and into Canada. Amy's extensive teaching and arranging experience with several Drum and Bugle Corps includes the Garfield Cadets, Bluecoats, Glassmen, Poynton Commodores (England), and Starriders (Germany).

As a member of the 1984 World Champion Garfield Cadets, Amy was awarded the DCI Individual’s Champion in ensemble percussion. During this time, she received her bachelor’s degree in music education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Along with post-graduate work at several universities, Amy studied with world-renowned percussionist Gordon Stout of Ithaca College, New York. Her performance experience in concert percussion includes playing with the Lexington Philharmonic in Lexington, KY, the Regina Symphony in Saskatchewan, Canada, and several orchestras and opera companies across the United States.

Amy is a Yamaha Performing Artist, and is an Educational Clinician/Endorsee for Avedis Zildjian Cymbals and Pro-mark Drum Stick Companies. She is named to the 2002 and 2004 Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, and is a member of the Percussive Arts Society.

Nate Campbell

Nate Campbell started playing drums at the age of six under the influence of his father. After graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Music Performance in 2002 from The University Of Nebraska, Nate became the director of the Cornhuskers drumline.

Nate has also served as adjunct professor at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. He recently completed my Masters Degree in Music Performance from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He was also featured in the TV show Tommy Lee Goes To College. He currently teaches privately in the Raleigh area as well as acting as a clinician and judge for various percussion events.

Matt Keown

Matt Keown is a former camper at the Matt Savage Marching Percussion Camp. He has gone on to develop into one of the most well rounded university level percussionists in the country. Matt was a snare drummer with the 2009 and 2010 Blue Devils and became section leader and center snare in 2011. He is a percussion major at the University of Oregon and a featured clinician for Remo Inc.