“I studied with Brian during my formative years of learning drumset. Without exception, he was approachable, kind and encouraging. His teaching and playing always serve a musical goal, which is surprisingly rare in private instruction. As a music teacher myself, I use many of the same resources and techniques Brian taught me. His instruction helped me build a foundation that informs my approach to the drumset and the classroom to this day.”
— Gabe M.
There aren’t many places that teach students from age two to their mid-90s, but that’s the range you’ll find at The Soundry in Egremont. The oldest student (94) takes two one-hour lessons per week. “It’s an intense brain and physical activity that brings incredible joy,” founder and studio director Brian Kantor says, adding, “There are countless studies about how music benefits the brain, what it does for neuroplasticity.” For toddlers and young children, he notes, studies are showing that building music into daily routines helps “get the juices flowing” before tech devices (and their accompanying addictions) set in.
I met with Kantor during his first month in The Soundry’s new studio space at 72 Main Street in South Egremont, just down the road from its previous location. “This is the first space that feels like all the angles have been considered. I can see the bigger picture here,” he says. He found the space through Greenagers founder/director Will Conklin, whom he met early in his time in the Berkshires through the music world. “Will is always pulling the community together in a cool way,” he acknowledges.
Kantor’s music connections in the Berkshires run deep. He worked with jazz musician Luke Franco to launch the Jazz Jams series at Dewey Hall in Sheffield during his time as a board member there years ago, and still plays gigs with many local and touring artists throughout the region.
A lifelong passion for drums and music
When asked about the roots of his passion, Kantor responds, “My dad was a fantastic keyboardist. I started playing drums in first grade, but I didn’t connect well with my teacher at the time.” He switched to a new teacher in third grade and was fully invested by the time he reached high school. “I listened to a lot of music with my dad. He was a real lover of music and played often,” he recalls. Growing up on Long Island, Kantor listened to the Beatles, Police, pop rock, and heavy metal. “I still have thousands of LPs and love digging back and finding forgotten sounds,” he shares. While he tested the waters with Brazilian, Afri-Cuban, and jazz music, he “landed firmly” in the folk/folk-rock realm.
After attending community college, he eventually headed to New York City to study at The Collective, a high-quality educational institution focusing on contemporary music performance, opening the door for opportunities. “I landed a gig with Blue Man Group, and my career took off,” he says. “My heart was with touring, gigging out on the road, and the opportunities kept coming.” Those included playing with Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Fruit Bats, Vetiver, Lauren Ambrose & The Leisure Class, Paul Loren, Billy Keane, The Lucky 5, Vaguely Pagan, and many others—all of which added to his experience and expanded his style. His career performing and recording music now spans decades and hundreds of recordings.
The heart—and art—of teaching
Kantor has also been teaching music on and off since he was 18, including several years of early childhood teaching experience working at The Williamsburg Northside School (Brooklyn), Stevens Cooperative (Hoboken), and The Berkshire Waldorf School (Great Barrington). Although he took a break from full-time teaching during his 20s and 30s, he returned to it when having a young child made being on the road more challenging. “I began teaching while working at a shop, emulating what my teachers had done with me. I had the information and experience but was still developing the tools to communicate and connect,” he explains. Pausing, he clarifies that he now thinks of teaching as more about imparting inspiration.
Despite his expertise, Kantor still values—and makes time for—learning and growing. “I take a Zoom lesson with drummers I admire from around the country every few months to keep developing my skills,” he notes. “I’m glad Zoom exists, but there’s nothing like sitting in a room with an instructor observing your posture, explaining how something should feel. That’s a complete education.” He’s qualified to teach many instruments (piano, guitar, and bass), but now focuses mainly on drums. “Rhythm is an essential part of music. While I like to encourage diversity, I have such a love for drums that I never get tired of the process.”
In building The Soundry team, Kantor has looked for musicians who share that same spirit toward teaching. “Our staff is comprised of working professional musicians who are eager to impart practical music skills—and inspiration,” he continues. There are currently five instructors—Kantor, Sam Lisabeth (guitar, piano), Miles Lally (bass), and Michael Siktberg (guitar, ukulele, toddler music meetups). Roughly 60 percent of the students are school age, and the rest are adults.
“One-on-one private studies are at the core of any great music education,” Kantor maintains. “What sets The Soundry apart from other music schools is the depth at which we delve into everything it takes to make music a meaningful part of one’s life.” Theory—described as “so cool!”—is a core aspect of the training, and The Soundry team prides itself on presenting it in a way that feels inspiring. They also focus on reading music, mastering techniques, and learning about songwriting, performing, and recording (among other things). “Many schools focus on getting students to play together without addressing the fundamentals,” he believes. “In the early years, you have to keep kids at their instrument, which means they have to enjoy it and feel the human connection.” Looking back, he feels grateful for the negative lesson experience he had with his first teacher. “That helped teach me what not to do. It’s about connecting and also doing the work.”
How does he find students? (Or, rather, how do they find him?) “Social media, ads and flyers, word of mouth, talking to people after gigs—they all play a part,” he says. He also got to know the local community during the pandemic, when he worked as an assistant at Berkshire Waldorf School. “Miss Petty and Charles Miller at Southern Berkshire Regional School District were also really helpful,” he adds.
Expanding the footprint—and offerings
Now that Kantor is in a larger space, featuring a main studio and two smaller teaching spaces, he wants to add more staff to offer training in additional instruments. “I see this studio expanding to the point where we’re running more workshops while continuing our private lessons,” he says. “Student performances and collaborations with other musicians are also important. I’m always dreaming and scheming events I’d like to do, whether that’s tributes to artists I love or organizing benefits for area venues in different states of crisis right now.”
While the cost of renting a venue is growing harder to cover, local musicians (whose livelihood depends on it) are also being asked to accept less money all the time. There are also fewer 19 to 24 year olds in the Berkshires—the age group most likely to attend shows. Without that demographic, it is more challenging to draw people out to hear live music. “The situation is becoming harder to navigate—these are conversations that need deeper, broader consideration,” he acknowledges.
“I’d like to see more dialogue between fans of music and musicians to help us build a deeper understanding,” he continues. “That would help more funding flow toward musicians and the music community, I think.” He emphasized the presence of significant music allies in the region—including The Barn in Egremont (long associated with Egremont Village Inn, and now with Buttonball Inn), Dewey Hall in Sheffield, The Lion’s Den in Stockbridge, and Dream Away Lodge in Becket. “The Berkshire music scene is alive but stressed. This is a pivotal time. I hope we can find a way to keep it going,” he opines.
His favorite memory as a teacher? “Watching one of my previous students graduate from Juilliard and seeing him become a professional in his own right left me beaming with pride and joy,” he admits. He’s also quick to acknowledge the equal joy of smaller moments, when students who were struggling with something came back to show him what they worked on. “I try to be fully in the moment with each student and feel lucky to have enthusiasm for what I do. It feels less like a job and more like a conscious extension of who I am and what I do as a musician.”
Bringing inspiration through collaboration
Kantor is christening the new space with a performance by Joan Shelley and Will Lawrence on Monday, October 20. “I first met Joan a number of years back while I was out on tour drumming with Fruit Bats. Joan was invited to open a handful of shows for us, jumped into our tour van, and we all became fast friends,” he says, adding, “I couldn’t be happier that Joan will be our first performance at the new studio, with Will Lawrence (another one of my all-time favorite musicians and songwriters) opening the evening. It’s going to be a night to remember.”
You can also hear Kantor perform on October 30th, when he, with the help of Miles Lally, Wes Buckley, and Ian McGuire, performs an original musical score live during a screening of the classic Robert Mitchum thriller “The Night of the Hunter” at Great Barrington’s Triplex Cinema.
The Soundry is currently accepting drum, bass, guitar, piano, and voice students for fall and winter semesters. It is also holding two workshops (shown below) in November. For more information, go to The Soundry.
