Piano, Drum
Timothy DelCollo was born into a musical family in northeast Philadelphia. His grandfather was a traveling, working musician and a private drum teacher who passed down his musical genes to his sons and grandson. Timothy spent most of his childhood picking up songs that he heard and playing them on the piano by ear. His grandfather also taught him how to play the drums at a very young age. By the time he was in junior high school, Timothy was attending Settlement School of Music for classical piano. He slowly got away from depending on his ear and learned the ways of musicianship from his teachers at Settlement as he studied the music of composers such as Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. Timothy stayed at Settlement for five years and was Level Three certified by the time his days there were over. While piano gradually became his primary instrument, he remained very involved with the drums. In freshman year of high school, he learned read off of charts in jazz band and also learned snare drum rudiments and the basics of sticking. He also played snare drum in the high school marching band.
Upon graduation, Timothy joined the United States Army and served five years on active duty. His service in the military allowed him to continue his musical career by enrolling in college at Rutgers University's Camden campus, majoring in music. After a semester at Rutgers, he transferred to the Boyer School of Music and Dance at Temple University’s main campus, double majoring in Music Education and Music Theory with a piano concentration.
Timothy strives to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps as a music instructor. What makes him a good teacher is not only his personable and welcoming manner with students, but also his natural ability to communicate with students in a way that helps them grasp the material. Timothy believes that a well- rounded musician, no matter the instrument, should have a sturdy foundation in music theory. He claims that this is “the seed from which any instrumentalist can blossom.”