Juan Jose Galarza – Drum Teacher
From the age of five, Jaun Jose developed an interest in music. Thus, he started taking piano and guitar lessons and, soon after, decided to focus on drums and Latin percussion. He continued to study such instruments with outstanding teachers during his childhood and adolescence, which allowed him to acquire a well-rounded education and prepared him for college. While he was growing up, Juan José was greatly influenced by famous drummers like Buddy Rich, Steve Smith, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl, Marco Minnemann, Dennis Chambers and Jojo Mayer.
In 2014, he completed a bachelor degree in music, sound production and engineering, with a minor in drums and percussion performance from Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador), Berklee global partner.
Since then, he has worked as an instructor of drums and percussion for musicians of all ages and abilities. As an engineer, he has successfully completed several large projects of design and installation of professional audio systems. As a musician, he has performed live and recorded with several artists.
Most importantly, he remains devoted to furthering his growth as a musician and committed music educator.
Favio Velarde – Drum Teacher
Favio Velarde is a music professional with vast experience in drumming and modern production. From a very young age, he showed an inclination towards percussion and at 8 years old he got his first drum kit. Soon to find himself studying at the National Conservatory of Peru to develop a strong base in theory and technique, he participated in various ensembles playing live shows including an international festival “Cantapueblo” in Mendoza, Argentina. The core foundation of Favio’s experience playing live is attributed to his playing at the Sagrado Corazón de Jesus church, where he would play for crowds of a thousand people every Sunday for 8 years. In his teenage years, Favio’s music taste opened up to Pop and Indie Rock music, playing in different bands and highschool events while also taking part in the Latin Jazz Ensemble representing his school in many festivals and competitions.
Upon graduation, Favio was lucky to have the full support of his family to pursue a career in music with a particular interest in production. He studied a Bachelor of Arts in Music where he got to learn from the best teachers in Lima, Peru, both the production and the business side of the industry. As part of the curriculum, Favio chose to specialize in drumming as his core instrument having two mentors in the spam of the 5-year program: Ken Ichikawa (Berklee, NYU Master) and Gisella Giurfa (Latin Grammy Nominee), both internationally renowned musicians and with different backgrounds. During his studies, Favio was exposed to different genres and musical approaches that ranged from classical music to traditional jazz, and Latino American genres taking classes such as Counterpoint, Orchestration, Jazz Ensemble, Arrangement, Advanced Harmony, among others.
He also dedicated time to teach drumming and music harmony classes to students who shared his passion and vision; keeping a very hands-on and technology immersed teaching approach based on his background in both academic and popular music teaching. When moving to Vancouver in 2019 to continue his studies specializing in audio engineering, he participated in local jazz concerts and professionally recorded drums for various projects.
Favio provides lessons with Prodigio in English and Spanish. He is available for both drum and theory lessons.
Julian Arenzon – Drum Teacher
Julián was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital city. From an early age, he was passionate about music and rhythm, and during his high school days he took up lessons in drums and guitar. From there, his musical frontiers expanded exponentially.
He had taught drums and percussion as a private teacher in Buenos Aires before embarking on a long trip around the African continent. In 2011, he settled in South Africa and continued teaching drums in different schools around town. While living in the quiet town of Makhanda, in the Eastern Cape Province, he obtained the Associate Diploma in Drum Kit Performance from Trinity College of London (2018).
He has vast experience performing different styles like ska, latin jazz, rock, punk, reggae, country, pop, to name a few. In the last eight years he has been on tours and has been invited to perform at different music festivals in South Africa. He has recorded albums with various artists, such as Wordsuntame and Shackles and Bones.
Julian provides lessons with Prodigio in English and Spanish.
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