Richard Aquilone is an accomplished drummer, teacher and engineer based in Astoria, Queens. He has extensive experience teaching music at the collegiate level, and has worked as a professional musician. He recently retired to teach privately and gig around Astoria, where he grew up.
Richard Aquilone attended SUNY Oneonta, and received a Masters in Music Education from NYU. For 15 years, he lived in upstate NY, where he taught music theory and drum instruction for 15 years in Albany. In addition, he occasionally performed with the Catskill Symphony Orchestra. He also played drums in the “Richard Aquilone Band”, which sold a few hundred thousand albums in the late 90s. The most successful “Richard Aquilone Band” album was the famed, and critically acclaimed, “Take a Stab at This”, released by Larchmont Recordings in 1995.
As a drummer, Richard Aquilone earned a reputation for his unique sense of timing and feel for the music. While teaching, he played as a hired drummer with numerous jazz and funk groups around Albany.
After teaching for 15 years, Richard Aquilone and his wife Jennifer decided it was time to return to his native Queens, since his mother in-law’s ailing health made it harder and harder to manage her grocery store in Astoria. After a stint working for a Brooklyn Conservatory, Richard decided to open up Richard Aquilone Drum Studio. His wife, when she isn’t helping manage the family grocery store, schedules appointments at the studio and maintains the website. She’s as crucial to the business as him.
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