Concert Bands Alumni Spotlight: Reid Kennedy

Reid Kennedy

BM 2007, Music Education
Instrument: Percussion
Current: Freelance musician, composer, and producer based in the Twin Cities

Biography

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, Starz, The Learning Channel, and WCCO Television and has been pitched to a wide range of film and television agencies including Coca-Cola, Chrysler, Universal Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, ABC, NBC, CBS, A&E, TNT, USA Network, VH1, and more. He has enjoyed professional collaborations with Ernestine Anderson, Katisse Buckingham, Andre Cymone, 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. Biography from reidkennedy.com.

Currently, Kennedy tours with Nooky Jones, an original soul band described by NPR as "...equal parts Stevie Wonder, D'angelo, and Prince and guaranteed to move both heart and booty..."  He also performs regularly with the Jack Brass Band and Copper Street Brass. Kennedy is a founder Young and Foolish, a boutique music production team, and co-hosts the Young and Foolish Podcast available on iTunes and YouTube. 

Impact of U of M Education

The ways in which my University of Minnesota education prepared me for a career in music are twofold.  

The first lies in the technical matters of becoming a better musician:

  • In my first lesson with Fernando Meza, he asked me to play any note on the xylophone and then proceeded to ask me why I chose that note. I searched for an answer and then listened to him explain the importance of decision making, thought process, and diligence when it comes to preparing music.
  • I once had a chime part in Wind Ensemble with a very exposed note near the end of the piece, and it was Jerry Luckhardt who told me to "breathe like a tuba player" in order to place the note correctly.
  • Dean Sorenson allowed me a weekly meeting to discuss big band arranging during what would have been his prep time because he knew I was interested in learning more about the topic.
  • Studying drum set with Phil Hey led to an invitation to sit in on one of his gigs when I was barely 21 years old.

These are just a few of the snapshots from five years worth of valuable insight from the people to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for both inspiring and facilitating a career in music for me.

The second way in which my University of Minnesota education prepared me for my current work stems from the relationships I was fortunate to develop during my undergraduate years. I will never forget Professors Meza and Luckhardt opening their doors to me during some particularly difficult times. Not only am I grateful for these incomparable musical mentors, but I continually reflect on the care and empathy they extended when I needed it the most. My current work involves many different aspects of music and artistry, but the common thread that runs through them, as well as the rest of life, that I was fortunate to receive from my mentors, is love and compassion. I hope to be able to pay forward these gifts in the way they were presented to me.  

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