Kim Shelley

Kim Shelley is a veteran of both percussion performance and education careers. She started performing with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at the age of nineteen. She subsequently recorded over thirty selections of music under the Telarc and RCA labels, including the Grammy awarded recording of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5. She has also performed as Principal Timpanist/Percussionist with the San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Summit Brass Ensemble, Monarch Brass Ensemble, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Illinois Symphony, and Illinois Chamber Orchestra.

Summer festival appointments as Principal Timpanist have been with the Grand Tetons Music Festival, Lancaster Festival, Shenandoah Bach Festival and Wintergreen Music Festival.  She has performed concertos with the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, Illinois Symphony, University of Missouri-Columbia Orchestra, Milliken University Percussion Ensemble and the Ladue Horton-Watkins Percussion Ensemble.

Ms. Shelley’s career focus has equally been extensive in the music education field. She taught in the Clayton School District for 19 years as the Percussion Specialist and Assistant Director of Bands, coordinating all aspects of the percussion curriculum for grades 6-12. Ms. Shelley also has former students who are professionals with the SWR Symphony-Stuttgart, San Diego Symphony, New World Symphony, and Pierre Boulez New Music Ensemble.

Ms. Shelley has given master classes at the Iowa Day of Percussion, Missouri Music Educators Association, and the St. Louis Day of Percussion.  She has also served as Treasurer for the Missouri Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society.  She works with percussion programs across the state as an active adjudicator and clinician. During her free time, she is obsessed with golfing and has coached golf at both the high school and collegiate levels.