Corey Fair was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. He began studying music at an early age and began studying percussion at age twelve following his father who was a drummer in St. Louis for over 10 years. Mr. Fair is currently a senior at Columbus State University’s Schwob School of Music in Columbus, Georgia, where he is pursuing a Bachelor of Music Education degree and studies percussion under the instruction of Paul Vaillancourt. Corey performs regularly with the university’s Wind Ensemble and Philharmonic Orchestra playing under notable conductors such as Jamie Nix and Paul Hostetter. At CSU, he is also a member of the Percussion Ensemble which premiered many works from composers such as Wayne Peterson, Sérgio Assad, Jim David and Dan Trueman. Mr. Fair recently recorded Dan Trueman’s A Palimpsest with saxophonist Joseph Girard and the Columbus State University percussion ensemble. Corey attended the Mark Yancich Timpani Class in 2014 where he studied with the timpanist from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. This summer, Corey will attend the Emory Percussion Symposium and will be a participant in the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC.
Corey played with the CSU Wind Ensemble at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center for the 2015 National CBDNA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Most recently, Corey was a finalist for the 2016 Schwob Concerto Competition. Mr. Fair will make his debut as a soloist in February 2016 with the CSU Wind Ensemble.
Aside from his ensemble involvement, Corey serves as the president of the National Association for Music Educators Chapter at CSU. Applying his heavy marching band background, which included marching a summer with the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps, Corey works with many high school drumlines across the state. When not pursing musical endeavors, Mr. Fair enjoys reading, cooking and working out.
