Gary Via was born in Blue Springs Missouri,
a suburb of Kansas City Missouri. Starting
percussion at the age of thirteen, he studied
with Gaylon Umbarger, percussionist for the
Kansas City Philharmonic, and Vince Bilardo
principal percussionist for the Kansas City
Philharmonic.
After high school he recieved a Bachelor
of Music degree from the University of North
Texas State, where he studied with many
qualified teachers including Ron Fink,
Henry Okstell, Charlie Hammond
and well known professional drummers such as Steve Houghton ( LA.) and John Riley (NY).
After college Gary remained in Dallas Tx. where he was percussion instructor and drumline director for five of the area's high schools and Director of Percussion for Trinity Valley College. He was also in-house composer/drummer for Channel One Productions recording studio and maintained a busy live performance schedule in local clubs, working with several well known artists such as Bo-Diddly, Louise Mandrell, and Danny Thomas. Along with these activities Gary was a member of The Dallas Cowboy Band and maintained a private teaching schedule for forty plus studenst per week.
In 1987 he spent four years in Los Angeles doing much of the same thing, performing and teaching. While in L.A. he worked as a session player on several recording projects. In 1991 he moved to the the Jersey Shore area where he spent the next five years performing with EZ Street Band on the Atlantic City - Philadelphia - New York City club circuit and serving as music director at The Jarred Run Academy.
Gary Via returned to Kansas City in 1997 to work on his method book "Studies in Creative Drumming". Since returning to K.C., he has served as percussion director for Blue Springs South High School, Truman High School, Grain Valley High School and Pleasant Hill High School. Gary has continued his active involvement with recording projects as in-house drummer for Low Key Productions recording studio and he also maintains a private teaching schedule of forty students.
