Marty Hurley was an American percussionist, teacher, composer, and clinician. He is best known for his work in the areas of marching percussion

Marching percussion

Marching percussion instruments are specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum to a special harness worn by the drummer. The drums are designed and tuned for maximum articulation and projection of sound, as marching activities are almost always outdoors or...

, rudimental drumming, drum & bugle corps

Drum and bugle corps (modern)

A drum and bugle corps, also known as a drum corps, is a musical marching unit consisting of brass instruments, percussion instruments, and color guard. Typically operating as independent non-profit organizations, drum corps perform in competitions, parades, festivals, and other civic functions...

, and marching band

Marching band

Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...

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Instruction

Since 1974 Marty has been the Director of Bands at Brother Martin High School

Brother Martin High School

Brother Martin High School is an all-male, Catholic, university preparatory school located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States operated by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. It was established in 1869 by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, establishing the school as St. Aloysius College...

 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Hurley’s bands have been consistent winners of sweepstakes awards at regional concert and marching competitions. During his time at Brother Martin he has had 71 percussion students from his beginning percussion class eventually become All State performers, and received the Teacher of the Year award in 1999.

Marty has also acted as percussion instructor at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and twice judged the national finals of the Marching Bands of America contest, and the Percussive Arts Society National Marching Forum.

Drum Corps

A former member of New Jersey’s Hawthorne Caballeros and Blessed Sacrament’s Golden Knights, Marty served as percussion instructor for the Stardusters (Arabi, Louisiana) 1971, the Bleu Raiders (Metairie, Louisiana) 1972-73, and the Black Knights (Belleville, Illinois) 1973-75. During his tenure as percussion instructor and arranger with the Phantom Regiment (Rockford, Illinois), the corps placed in the top ten nationally for 14 years at D.C.I. finals competition in Denver, Philadelphia, Birmingham, Montreal, Miami, Madison, Kansas City, Buffalo and Dallas.

Currently

At the time of his death, Marty was a Marching Percussion Clinician for Pearl Percussion, Sabian Cymbals, and his music and instructional videos are published by Row-Loff Productions. In November 2002, Marty performed as a soloist on The Drummer’s Heritage Concert at the Percussion Arts Society International Convention in Columbus, Ohio. Marty Passed Away on September 12th, 2011, after suffering from a stroke and about a month of intensive care in the hospital. Marty made the decision to move on instead of being a burden, he wanted to die on his own terms.

Honors

In September 2004, Marty Hurley was inducted into the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Hurley was the band director at Brother Martin High School

Brother Martin High School

Brother Martin High School is an all-male, Catholic, university preparatory school located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States operated by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. It was established in 1869 by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, establishing the school as St. Aloysius College...

 in New Orleans, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 until his death in September 2011

September 2011

September 2011 was the ninth month of the current year. It began on a Thursday and ended after 30 days on a Friday.- Portal:Current events :...

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In 2009, Mr. Hurley was inducted into the Louisiana Music Educator's Association Hall of Fame based on his fine work at Brother Martin High School.

Selected works

Phancy Phantom (Medium-Advanced Snare Drum Solo)

Phantom of the Phield (Advanced Snare Drum Solo)

Phantom Phrenzy (Advanced Snare Drum Solo)

Phantom Phire (Extremely Advanced Snare Drum Solo)

For all of Marty's compositions, go to Row-Loff's web site and search for "Marty Hurley".