Teacher Profile: Mario Fabrizio
About Mario Fabrizio
Mario Layne Fabrizio has performed with notable musicians such as Cecil Mcbee, Claudio Roditi, Nilson Matta, Santi DeBriano, Roni Ben-Hur, Joe Morris, Ali Boulo Santo Cissoko, Jason Palmer and Volker Goetze. He premiered Arturo O'Farrill’s piece Little Tiny Walls, theater piece The Black Clown at the American Repertory Theatre and played for Jason Moran’s STAGED exhibition with Cecil McBee and also performed chamber works by Jacob Druckman, Anthony Coleman, Joe Morris to name a few. Mario has toured around the world and has been presented with various groups at the Salzburg Jazz Festival (Austria), Jazz at Lincoln Center (NYC & Shanghai, China), Panama Jazz Festival, Birdland (NYC), The Whitney Museum (NYC), Kunming’s International Drum Festival (China) and The Kennedy Center (DC). London Jazz News describes him accurately as a "ferocious but subtle," drummer and Steve Smith of On The Record says that he “plays with assurance, charisma and infectious enthusiasm.”
Mario has an education, with much gratitude, that is quite vast: while growing up in NJ he regularly studied at Jazz House Kids and NJPAC Jazz For Teens that have earned reputation as some of the most distinguished music education and performance programs. He studied with a lot of outstanding musicians there such as Steve Johns, Alvester Garnett, Bruce Williams, Julius Tolentino, Mike Lee, Billy Hart, to name a few, and performed in many small ensembles and big bands where musicians like Joe Lovano were featured. In addition, he attended many of the east coast summer jazz programs like Litchfield Workshop, Jazz in July, Stokes Music and Redbank Jazz Workshop. Mario regularly went to the jam sessions hosted by Mike Lee, Cecil Brooks and Radam Schwartz where he really learned how to play in actuality and with some great musicians. After these years, New England Conservatory in Boston was where he then spent his years to earn a BA in Jazz studies. Mario studied with everyone he possibly could for drums and percussion, performance and composition namely: Billy Hart, Cecil McBee, Joe Morris, Ted Reichman, Jason Moran, Anthony Coleman and Stratis Minikakis and also did several additional studies with Vijay Iyer at Harvard in performance and in music philosophy. At NEC, although he was in the jazz department, he did a lot of regular work and study with the CI and Classical departments playing percussion and studying composition.
As for educating, Mario has given regular private lessons for drummers and has taught drum, percussion, rhythm and performance masterclasses at the Panama Jazz Festival, across China in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Kunming and Beijing and at the Salzburg Jazz Festival. In addition, he’s taught for Boston's Cantata Singers Program teaching songwriting to 4th and 5th graders. Because of his vast interests and artistic abilities, he makes sure to enable a student to have a wide perspective on drums and music, so they are able to grow into themselves as a person and have creative outlook on everything they do. Mario believes that teaching music is very intertwined with the students’ inner being at any age and that by teaching music he tries to have students learn more about themselves. Lessons start as an empty cup to be filled with whatever interests and possibilities that are found within the times of lessons. Since he underwent an intense conservatory experience with literally thousands of hours of practice and performance, Mario also advocates for a student to have and utilize a good and HEALTHY practice by emphasizing and cultivating a student's natural talents and gifts.
In addition to his acceptances to workshops and retreats, Mario has been awarded with two YoungArts awards, a National Sawdust composition commission, and has been supported by MassMOCA and Assets for Artists, YoungArts and the Foundation for Contemporary art.