Our Teachers

We are very proud to have the most professional and capable teachers in the industry.  They are consummate musicians whose talents and passion enable them to work with students of any age or skill level.  Students who have never sat behind a drum kit as well as professionals who have toured the world over, all seek out and benefit greatly from our teachers expertise and wisdom.  Excellent communicators, they are all able to play and teach a variety of musical styles ranging from Latin, punk, jazz, heavy metal and all musical territories in between.

Marshall Bureau

Neal Busby

Neal has a deep history of teaching and playing have been a part of Gold and Platinum selling and Juno award winning artists such as April Wine and Silk Toxik.  He has been a steady drum instructor at Just Drums for over 10 years.  His most recent accomplishments are writing, recording, and mixing his own original scores which have been used on many film and television productions such as “South of Nowhere”, “America’s Got Talent”, “Life is Wild”, “Dr. 90210”, “The Latest Buzz”, 8 episodes of Fashion Television, and many songs licensed by MTV U.S. for various reality shows.  You can check out more info on Neal at  www.nealbusby.com  or myspace.com/twirlmusic

Maurizio Valente

Maurizio brings to Just Drums over 20 years of playing experience.  Having studied privately for many years under Robin Boers at the Ontario College of Percussion, he then briefly enrolled in York University’s Music Program and then relocated to New York City.  There he spent five years pursuing several musical and theatrical projects.  His return to Toronto has seen him perform with various top 40 and R&B bands throughout the city.  Most notably he has performed and recorded with singer/songwriter Anique Robitaille and the Jazzmakers Jazz Trio.  He currently can be seen performing with vibist/percussionist Arnold Faber.   Maurizio is in his second full year of teaching at Just Drums and hopes to provide a comfortable, fun and inspiring environment for students to further their musical growth.

Arnold Faber

Arnold Faber has been on the music education/performance scene for over 30 years. Arnold is a Berklee College Of Music alumnus (Degree Program/Jazz Composition And Arranging).   As well as being a well-known Yamaha endorsed recording artist on the Maxmum Jazz/Universal Group label, he has played most of the Canadian jazz festivals and has done much work for the CBC across Canada. Teaching, film scoring, composition and performing round off a very demanding schedule. Over the years, Arnold has conducted workshops, clinics and ensembles extensively throughout the Toronto and Catholic School Boards as well as across Canada. His teaching mandate includes showing students how to think on their instrument and setting them up to fly on their own musically and creatively. Whether utilizing a drum kit, vibraphone, or hand drums, teaching drums and percussion has been a lifelong endeavor and is his “labour of love”.

Beau Stocker

Beau has been an instructor and player for many years.   He is a drum set performer and student in one of the most innovative and challenging genres of music known as Improvising.  A term used to describe and categorize music styles such as Jazz, Blues, various Eastern music, and the popular ‘soloing’ aspect of Rock and Pop music.  He is an Honours graduate of the Humber College Music Program (Toronto), Fine Arts Graduate of York University (Toronto) and most recently a MA recipient in Improvised Music Performance from the University of York (York, England).  His performance experience includes a three-year stint in the Toronto Rock/Pop band The Goldendogs, tours of Europe and the United Kingdom in the improvising ensemble TrioVD, and with Blues/Rock guitarist Cal Batchelor.    His wide background in music complements his performance history which all lends itself very well for teaching the drums.

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