Who I Am

I am a born musician, and a born teacher. Both are in the very fiber of my nature, and both I have been doing for as long as I can remember.

Very few musicians can cover as much ground as I do. As a professional I’ve played drums in blues and rock bands, I’ve played timpani and xylophone in the MUNY orchestra, and I’ve led a progressive jazz trio from behind my electric vibraphone. I’ve played gigs as a guitarist and pianist, commissioned to write music for modern dance, and consulted by bands wishing to tighten up their sound.

After a fifteen-year full-time career as a performer I went back to school to earn a master’s degree and became a Missouri Certified K-12 Music teacher. I am now a full-time high school music director and college professor. At the college level I teach music technology and recording, jazz improvisation, percussion lessons, percussion ensemble, and music theory. And I have the experience of literally thousands of beginning drum, guitar, and piano lessons since 1997.

I HAVE ALWAYS FELT A CALLING TO TEACH.

Teaching is automatic for me, if I see somebody struggling I want to help them. When I was a teenager I coached my friends in drums and guitar and when I was 21 I started teaching lessons professionally.

“Those experiences learning theory, improvisation, and musicianship from Joe absolutely paved the way for me to successfully audition at a competitive music conservatory, and eventually become a music therapist.” - Austin T.

See me here playing all the instruments on a song I wrote.

See more on my YouTube channel, and be sure to subscribe!

You can read more about my credentials, as well as watch videos on my website www.josephtpastormusic.com

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CAREER HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE

• 10 year’s experience teaching college music ensembles and classes at St. Louis Community College and Jefferson College.

• 7 years’ experience as the Director of Music at Bishop DuBourg High

• 4 years experience teaching elementary music programs

• Bachelor’s degree in music performance

• Master’s degree in education

• Over 3,000 performances as a professional musician, mostly as a jazz, blues, and rock drummer, but often as a musical theater or orchestral percussionist, or leading my group as a jazz vibraphonist.

• Thousands of hours in private lessons since 1997

• Founder and artistic director of the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization The St. Louis Legacy Ensemble

• Member; American Federation of Musicians Local 2-197, ASCAP, Percussive Arts Society, MOAJE

I ALSO DO ART

My paintings are available for purchase