Tim McKay currently serves on faculty at Howard Community College where he teaches applied percussion lessons, the fundamentals of music theory course, and private lessons through HCC's Music Institute program. He is the director of Drummin' Dragons Percussion Camp, and the 2016 recipient of HCC's Arts and Humanities Adjunct Faculty of the Year award. In addition to teaching at HCC, he is the long-time percussion coach of the Howard County Youth Orchestra (formerly HSGTO). An active clinician and educator, Mr. McKay has given clinics and masterclasses throughout the DMV, including the PAS MD/DE Day of Percussion, and has adjudicated Solo and Ensemble Festivals as well as regional and state-level auditions. Mr. McKay is a member of the Percussive Arts Society, the Vic Firth Education Team, and the Black Swamp Percussion Educator Network. Many of his students have performed in county, state, and national programs and festivals, and have been accepted into some of the top music schools and conservatories in the country.
Mr. McKay performs regularly as section percussionist/assistant timpanist with the Apollo Orchestra, and has previously performed with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, Concert Artists of Baltimore, Mid-Atlantic Symphony, as well as the Annapolis, Roanoke, West Virginia, and Syracuse Symphonies. He has performed at venues across the country including the Kennedy Center, Strathmore Music Center, Baltimore Lyric Opera House, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, The Hippodrome, National Cathedral, the Getty Center, Merkin Hall, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. He has also performed with many DC area musical theater companies including Olney Theater, Imagination Stage, Studio Theater, Atlas Theater, Catholic University, and Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theater. In 2009, Mr. McKay performed the first movement of Christopher Rouse's percussion concerto Der geretette Alberich with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra alongside UMD alumni Lee Hinkle and Danny Villanueva. In 2012 he was named a Rising Star finalist at Howard County's Celebration of the Arts Gala, and he performed with American Idol winner Phillip Phillips for PBS's A Capitol Fourth celebration on the National Mall.
Mr. McKay holds a BM in percussion performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he studied with Michael Rosen, and a MM in percussion performance from the University of Maryland where he studied with John Tafoya. Former teachers include Guy Gauthreaux (ret. US Navy Band), Bill Richards (ret. US Army Band) and Brian Prechtl (Baltimore Symphony). In addition to music, Mr. McKay enjoys homeschooling his kids, coaching his son’s travel baseball team, and baking artisan bread. He lives in Columbia with his with his wife, Amanda, and children Isabelle and Zach. In his spare time you can find Mr. McKay hiking and camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and cycling the back roads of Howard County.
Mr. McKay holds a BM in percussion performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he studied with Michael Rosen, and a MM in percussion performance from the University of Maryland where he studied with John Tafoya. Former teachers include Guy Gauthreaux (ret. US Navy Band), Bill Richards (ret. US Army Band) and Brian Prechtl (Baltimore Symphony). In addition to music, Mr. McKay enjoys homeschooling his kids, coaching his son’s travel baseball team, and baking artisan bread. He lives in Columbia with his with his wife, Amanda, and children Isabelle and Zach. In his spare time you can find Mr. McKay hiking and camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and cycling the back roads of Howard County.