Blue Man Group Boston Announce Finalists for 4th Annual Drum-Off

Blue Man Group Boston announced the five finalists that will perform at their fourth annual Drum-Off competition on September 30 at 2:20 pm at the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival. This competition showcases the best drumming talent in New England and the selected finalists will each perform a 3-minute solo jam session in front of the lively Berklee Beantown Jazz Fest crowd. The winner will receive over $6,000 in prizes from Blue Man Group, DW, Sabian and Vic Firth and have the chance to perform with Blue Man Group.

The finalists are:

Euan Leslie, 18, attends Berklee College of Music, lives in Boston and from Dumfries, Scotland

Tyler Pedersen, 23, lives and from Marblehead, MA

Darryl Reberio Jr., 23, attends Berklee College of Music, lives in Jamaica Plain, MA and from New Britain, CT

Nick Villamizar, 22, attends Berklee College of Music, lives in Boston and from Miami, FL

Justin Winters, 21, lives and from Springfield, MA

Blue Man Group welcomes celebrity judge Charles Haynes, a Berklee-trained pop/R&B/jazz drummer who has performed with Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, and Queen Latifah among others. He will join members of the Blue Man band in judging this year’s competition and determining the Grand Prize winner. The winner will then participate in an encore performance with Blue Man Group to close the competition.

“This event highlights the unbelievable local drumming talent we have in this area,” said Jonathan Screnci, Resident General Manager, Blue Man Group Boston. “These five finalists were chosen for the creativity, technical ability and overall personality they brought to the stage and we’re excited to see them perform before the Berklee Beantown Jazz Fest audience at the end of the month.”

This year’s competition will be hosted by Chuck Clough and Ronnie Hirschberg, hosts of Above the Basement - Boston Music and Conversation, a Boston music podcast that has featured Don Henley, Jewel, Martin Sexton, Keith Lockhart and our very own Blue Man Group to name a few and is the official podcast partner for the 2017 Boston Music Awards.

For more information about the Blue Man Group Boston Drum-Off and to follow this year’s competition, please visit www.blueman.com/BostonDrumOff. Fans may also keep up with Blue Man Group through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or the hashtag #DareToLive and #BlueManDrumOff.