Houston’s Saint Thomas’ School searching for drumming instructor

Saint Thomas Episcopal School in Houston is in recruitment mode, looking for a drumming instructor to join its formidable percussion team of Graham Brown and Andrew Elliott, and piping instructors Nick Hudson and Lyric Todkill at the private Texas institution.

The school wants a drummer who has played with an RSPBA-graded band in Grade 1 or Grade 2 within the last five years, has at least two years of related work experience, and has at least a bachelor of arts degree in a related field.

The drummer who gets the job will teach all levels of pipe band drumming, from beginner to top-tier, and ” handle a wide range of responsibilities, including administrative tasks, coordinate daily band practices after school, attend and organize band performances, chaperone Scottish Arts sponsored trips and any additional performance both during and outside regular school hours, maintain professional relationships with colleagues, students, parents, and community members, follow the professional code and policies of the school and conduct oneself in a way that promotes the mission of the school,” and various other duties.

Interested qualified drummers should submit a resume and completed application (available at stes.org) to Jeri Wisdom, Human Resources Generalist.

Saint Thomas’ Episcopal School is one of the world’s top academic piping and drumming programs. Its Juvenile band has won the World Championship five times (1985, ’95, ’98, 2004, and ’06), and regularly travels to Scotland to compete. The Grade 1 Saint Thomas Alumni is affiliated with the school.

Founded in 1955 as a parish school of Saint Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Saint Thomas’ Episcopal School is a fee-based, pre-kindergarten to 12th-grade school that upholds Christian values and educates boys and girls through classical instruction.

With a total enrollment of around 650 students, more than 150 kids are involved in the piping and drumming program, most of whom start as raw beginners. There are many more pupils in the school’s Highland dancing curriculum.

pipes|drums published a feature piece on Saint Thomas’ Episcopal School’s piping and drumming program in January 2024:

• Texas’s Saint Thomas’ Episcopal School goes deep in the heart of piping and drumming (video)

The original version of this article stated that St. Thomas’ Episcopal School had won the Juvenile World Championship twice. The correct number is five, and the story was amended.