Hugh O’Byrne

Hugh O’Byrne

Waltons New School of Music Faculty

Drum Kit

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Hugh started out learning the piano but after a short time moved on to his real love, the drum kit. In his late teens he studied under Monica Bonnie at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, and he went on to complete a teaching diploma in drum kit and orchestral percussion with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Hugh is one of the most in-demand drummers on the Irish music scene and in a wide-ranging career has performed with many different groups and in a variety of genres and styles, including rock, Latin, jazz, funk, blues, trad and African. He was an original member of the Irish/African group De Jimbe – which performed at most of the major music festivals in Ireland and also travelled to France, Germany, Cuba, Senegal, the US and Korea – and he currently performs with the Irish/Nigerian group Tig Linn. Some of the other groups he has played and recorded with include The Mexican Pets, Salsa Brava, The Radio, Mangéira, the Dublin Gospel Choir and the Arcana Drummers; he also toured in Ireland, England, Spain and South Korea with the Dance Theatre of Ireland. Hugh has over 30 years’ experience as drum teacher and educator and has taught with the New School since our founding in 1994.

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