Master Musician's Instruments Will Continue to Perform in Waltham Public Schools

Ten years after his death from an aggressive brain tumor at the age of 70, Walter V. Tokarczyk of Natick still wields legendary influence over some of today’s most respected drummers and performers.

Now, the family of the former U.S. Army Band, Boston Pops and Boston Symphony Orchestra percussionist and well-known master musician hopes to continue their loved one’s legacy of inspiring future generations of musicians by donating his cherished instruments to the Waltham Public Schools.

One of Tokarczyk’s four daughters, Lynn Tokarczyk, explains that the family’s gift was timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of her father’s death in November 2005. The donation includes the actual instruments Tokarczyk used during his more than 35-year career of performing and teaching throughout the Greater Boston area.

“These are the instruments he played himself and used to give lessons to students,” Lynn Tokarczyk describes, noting her father’s years of teaching at Berklee College of Music, Dean College, in a Woonsocket, Rhode Island studio, and in the Natick and Waltham Public Schools. “(The collection includes) drum sets, drumsticks, percussion pads, cymbals, a snare drum, and other instruments and parts.”

Tokarczyk’s instruments figured prominently in the education of many of contemporary music’s biggest talents, including five-time “World’s Fastest Drummer” title holder Mike Mangini, who is percussionist for the progressive metal band, Dream Theater; Sherwood Mobley, executive director of the Greenville Symphony Association; and Mark DeRose, who is commonly known as one of the most recorded drummer/percussionists in Japan. A private student of Tokarczyk from the ages of 10-18, Mangini praises the former Waltham Public School music director as one of his “drumming role models” and credits him with significantly influencing his career.

It is unusual for the Waltham schools to receive a gift of such significance as Tokarczyk’s collection, explains Kevin Burke, an Instrumental Music Teacher in the Watch City for more than 20 years. “I have received a donation of drum sets a few times over the years,” Burke describes, “but never more than one set from any one individual.” The instruments were handed over during a private ceremony in Framingham on Thursday, April 23, 2015.

Burke, who says he was “honored” and “blessed” to receive a gift representing such a rich musical tradition, says the instruments will be catalogued and distributed among the Waltham public schools according to need.

The community where Tokarczyk helped shape the future of a new generation of performers continues to be inspired by his dedication and talent, most visibly in the MacArthur Elementary School practice room that bears his name and the Walter V. Tokarczyk Scholarship Fund established in his memory. “Walter’s legacy still lives on in Waltham. He taught and influenced so many fine musicians,” Burke says. “I will be notating in the inventory that these instruments were donated by the Tokarczyk family and will share the donation with the Waltham School Committee.”

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