Berks' Best 2024 performing arts winner Austin Snavely foresees a career in jazz
May 17—Austin Snavely has always been tuned in to the rhythm of life.
He recalls that from the time he was a small child, he was constantly tapping his feet, or gathering pillows around him to form a makeshift drum set, or tapping out beats on a desk with his hands.
"I was just always connected with the drums," he said. "I really don't know why. I just remember always having some kind of rhythm going on."
So when the high school band kids came around to his elementary school to demonstrate their instruments when he was in third grade, he naturally gravitated toward drums.
Music has been Austin's primary focus ever since, and his devotion to his craft has resulted in the Daniel Boone High School senior being named the Berks' Best 2024 winner in performing arts.
Austin plans to enroll at Eastman School of Music, Rochester, N.Y., where he will pursue a degree in music performance, which he hopes will lead to a career as a jazz drummer.
He credits his private-lessons teacher, Larry Marshall, with introducing him to the wonders of jazz when he was in sixth grade. Marshall encouraged Austin to study the great drummers of the genre, so he immersed himself in Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Cobb, Max Roach and Brian Blade. He dove into the music of Charles Mingus, John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner, plus more contemporary artists like Chick Corea, Maynard Ferguson, The Yellowjackets and Snarky Puppy.
Meanwhile, Marshall was making sure Austin was grounded in fundamentals and understood the role of the drummer in supporting the other musicians in the band and facilitating musical "conversation," which starts with being a good listener. And it didn't take long for those lessons to click with Austin.
"From eighth grade on, I just knew jazz was my all-time favorite style to play," he said. "It just feels like every time I play, I'm very comfortable and I'm relaxed. And that's just where I want to be."
Senior year, Austin was Daniel Boone's marching band president and played in the Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble and Jazz Band. He was also in the Concert Choir, gaining induction into the Tri-M Music Honor Society.
He earned spots in the Settlement Music School Helen K. Schwartz Advanced Study Jazz Ensemble, the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, the Philadelphia Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Philadelphia Wind Symphony.
Austin is grateful that Marshall's lessons went beyond music.
"He was one of those teachers who would always connect something from music to life," he said. "Because music and life are so interchangeable it's insane."
Austin credits his parents, Lori and Shawn, with getting him around music from the time he was 3. Lori is an elementary school band director, and Shawn is a saxophone player who toured regionally with Big Tubba Mista during the '90s swing revival.
Austin said he and his father jam together often.
"We've really connected," he said, "not only as musical friends but our father-son relationship."
Austin foresees a career in jazz that he hopes will take him around the world. A history buff, he enjoys meeting people and learning about other cultures and how those cultures inform the music.
"Playing with musicians all around the world and learning about new people and different cultures is really one of my main aspirations," he said, "because wherever music goes, amazing things follow."
