Kevin Fuhrman is part of the Educational Seminars in Percussion (ESP) program sponsored across the country by Sabian Cymbals, and Vic Firth sticks. He is also endorsing Aquarian Drumheads, Rhythm Tech equipment and Real Feel pads. The program is geared to help Middle and High-School Band Directors with their percussion programs. Many directors are quite busy now and to assist them, this program allows professionals like Mr. Fuhrman to become an in-classroom expert to help their students achieve new levels of success in music! The program can also include performances/clinics at stores and festivals while still maintaining a high level of effectiveness.

These are some of the quotes from Band Directors who have participated with the program in the past:

"Kevin was great! He worked really well with the kids, demonstrating outstanding musicianship."

"Kevin did an excellent job. He was able to start at their level and build up."

"Educational & Fun!"

"Good work on fundamentals with the percussion instruments. Thanks for motivating and educating!"

There are four ways that you can utilize Mr. Fuhrman in your program/store. Each level is setup differenly in time, money and focus areas. All of them will help to enhance your curriculum/bottom line.

The four different approachs are:

1. Lesson recruiting presentation
2. A one-day clinic on techniques for percussion instruments.
3. A three-day to five-day workshop on care and maintenance for all percussion instruments, including the techniques to play them properly.
4. An "in service" approach that develops technique and performance on percussion instruments.

Lesson Recuiting Presentation

The Lesson recruiting presentation is a 30 to 60 minute block of time when Kevin will come to your building and perform for your percussionists or entire band on percussion instruments. Normally, Mr. Fuhrman will perform on Drumset, Steel Drums, Keyboard Percussion (electronic), Hand Percussion and Marching Percussion (Tenor Drums). This presentation does not cost you anything, but if possible it needs to be booked at least 30 days prior to the event so that endorsed companies can be contacted and help offset the cost of the presentation. The main focus of this is to expose students to new areas of percussion and to recruit more students into Mr. Fuhrman's private studio. (The students will be asked about taking lessons during the presentation.) They will have a chance to see and hear a professional percussionist play and discuss his experience as a full-time musician. They also will have plenty of chances to ask questions and gain more personal knowledge about the world of percussion!

The One-day Clinic

The one-day clinic is designed more to be tailored to your specific needs. Usually, you will want to have Mr. Fuhrman reach all of your students, and that is hard to do in one class period. This clinic will allow you to reach all of the students you see in one day. It works best to start before school and/or continue after school to reach all of your percussionists. Because of the time commitment, the clinic is $300. If booked more than 30 days in advance, some of that can be covered with company endorsements. This format can be very beneficial if you are looking for ways to boost interest in your students or charge their willingness to take on new music. The best part about this is that you can choose which area that will benefit your program the most!

The areas that can be covered by these seminars are:

Drumset, Keyboard Percussion (Including Steel Drums!), Concert Percussion (Triangle, Tambourine, etc.), Snare Drum, Timpani, Marching Percussion (all areas), Latin Percussion, Reading Rhythms, using a metronome correctly, learning to set-up equipment for a piece of music, fundamental stick control technique and others!

The Five-day Workshop

The five-day workshop can literally save you thousands of dollars! As you probably know, percussion instruments and/or equipment seem to need a lot of repairs and replacement. Most of this is due to poor care on the part of the students. You more than likely have over $20,000 worth of percussion equipment and each year you are spending somewhere between $1,000 and $3,000 on repairs or replacements. Many times, the students are not treating the equipment with very much respect or just don't realize that they are damaging things. This isn't necessarily their fault - they never were told how to care for their instruments. Since they don't own the instruments, the level of concern is much lower for them.

There are many approaches to solving this problem - one of the best is to have a professional percussionist come in and show them how to play and care for all of the instruments! This way they see someone who has spent years on the instruments they are learning and can see more of the goal of professionalism and musicianship. Once students experience that workshop, they understand that it is important for them to care about how the instrument sounds and how to tune them correctly (and find out what not to do!). After the workshop, you can expect your repairs to be cut in half.

This can be done in a three, four or five-day format - Please check out the link below to see a quick outline of the workshop. The cost of the workshop varies, depending on the number of days needed and/or amount of time per day. The range for the workshop is from $750 to $1,250.

Outline of Concert Percussion Workshop

Recommendation letter from Director of Coon Rapids High School (pdf)

In-Service Program

The most beneficial way to increase the musicianship of your students is to have a professional percussionist be with your students every step of the way through their training in school. With this approach, you can have someone at your school once per week, two times a month or once per month to guide and direct the learning process. This can also include a program of study, similar to a cirriculum, for percussionists throught the high school years. (Soon junior high will also be included) In the past, Directors have had Mr. Fuhrman come in and explain the techniques for various instruments and then access the students' ability to perform basic skills on those instruments (rudiments, scales, concert literture from concerts, etc.). Also, you can utilize the time to help the percussionists perform in band class with the rest of the band. Then, issues can be addressed while you are rehearsing and help to avoid common mistakes and problems. Another angle is to develop a percussion ensemble during this time and make it more of a performance-based effort.

Usually, this program is one used throughout most or all of a school year, which can completely accelerate your percussionists to an entirely different level of performance!

Cost of the program varies greatly, depending on how much time is needed - $1,000 to $8,000 (The lower end starts with one class-period per week. The middle of this range would cover an entire day of classes twice per month for the entire school year. The upper end of this range would mean you would have someone at your school once per week for an entire day of classes for the entire school year)

There are many vaiables for this program, so it is best to talk with Mr. Fuhrman about how to best utilize this type of arrangement.

Book a presentation, Clinc, Workshop or Program at your school, store or festival today!