Meet The Instructors

Scott Bonshire has been teaching snare drum and drum set since 1980 and performing live before that. In the era of performing five nights a week and more versatile styles, he has played the Hyatt Oakbrook and O'Hare and Nick’s Fish market in Rosemont and Chicago, IL and corporate dates for IGA and Distribution America.

   For the past 20 years up until the present he has been playing with R&B and Country Rock bands such as The Jaywalkers and Heartsfield playing clubs and festivals and has opened for many bands such as Joe Walsh, Little Feat and Lynyrd Skynyrd. He also has deep roots in Rock.

  DRUM! Magazine did a small profile on Scott in their September/October 2003 issue. 

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 Instruction offered Tuesdays & Thursdays 

Davis is a multi-talented musician who began his musical journey at the age of 5 at Melody Mart. Although he started with piano, he has since focused his teaching on piano and mallet instruments exclusively. Davis has been playing piano for over 18 years and is skilled in playing a wide range of mallet instruments such as the Marimba, Xylophone, and Vibraphone.

 

Davis is an experienced and friendly teacher who connects well with his students, especially with children. He strongly believes that passion is essential to learning music, and his youthful exuberance will have his students looking forward to every lesson. He conducts both individual and group lessons that focus on piano and mallet instruments. His goal is to help his students achieve their musical aspirations by sharing his knowledge and love of music with them.

 

Apart from teaching, Davis is also in charge of setting up for events and making sure group programs are ready at Melody Mart. He takes pride in his work and is known for his attention to detail.

 

With his talent and passion for music, Davis is an inspiration to his students and colleagues alike. He strives to help each student reach their full potential, no matter their age or skill level.

Instruction offered Mondays & Wednesdays

Craig Buckner is a freelance drummer who thrives on playing many different styles of music. He has professional experience performing jazz, rock, funk, blues, orchestral, and Broadway music. He is from Mount Greenwood, a south suburb of Chicago, where he spent four years in his high school band program. After high school, he went on to pursue a college education and received his associate degree in Fine Arts from Moraine Valley Community College (MVCC) where he studied with percussion instructor Doug Bratt. While attending MVCC, Craig performed in many academic ensembles such as the Jazz Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and the Concert Band. After graduating from MVCC in 2015, Craig went on to Eastern Illinois University (EIU) to earn a bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies while studying with jazz faculty members Jamie V. Ryan, Dr. Sam Fagaly, and Dr. Paul Johnston. While at EIU, he performed in the Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Combo, Percussion Ensemble, and The Eastern Symphony Orchestra. Performing in the Jazz Ensemble gave him opportunities to play with professional world-class musicians such as Jason Marsalis, Vanessa Rubin, and Andy Martin. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in 2018, Craig went on to pursue a master’s degree in Jazz Studies at DePaul University with a graduation date of June 2021. Craig is now looking forward to pursuing music performance and teaching as his career and meeting more great people along the way.

Instruction offered Mondays & Saturdays