Nick Kepron is a preeminent young drum set player, improviser, painter, composer, arranger, producer, and educator living in the Washington DC area. Born in Englewood NJ and raised in and around New York City, Nick grew up in a musical household and developed a passion for the drums before the age of two. Soon, he was interested in creative music, improvisation and composition. 

    

While attending a music masterclass at age three, Nick had his first encounter with bassist Rufus Reid, who told the audience, while musicians were preparing to play, that “the secret to ensemble playing is to…listen.” 

    

In a split second, Nick jumped out of his seat and walked over to the front of the stage, in front of 300 attendees, and waited for Mr. Reid to locate the small voice informing him that “Mr. Rufus…forgot something..."

    

"Mr. Rufus, You gotta feel it in your soul!”  

    

Twenty years later, this conversation, has, in many ways, become one of Nick’s overarching goals as a musician: to listen to one’s self, to one's dreams, to “feel it in your soul” and to be able to share in that feeling with others. 

    

During his teen years, Nick was one of two drummers nationwide to be selected to perform and tour with the inaugural NYO Jazz orchestra, under the direction of Sean Jones. NYO Jazz played their debut performance at Carnegie Hall, which featured Dianne Reeves and Wycliffe Gordon, and then embarked on a European tour with Dianne Reeves in August 2018. Nick was also selected to participate in the prestigious Vail Jazz Workshop in 2016.

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As an educator, Nick is the creator and sole teacher of Drum Set Biomechanics, a revolutionary approach to the instrument which centers human movement as the most fundamental aspect of playing the drum set, and the translational language which drummers use to bring the imagination and the spirit of the drums into shared reality. For more information, visit the                     page. 

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Nick is currently working on a substantial amount of composed and recorded music behind the scenes, to be released over the next few years.