The 2025 Neil Peart Spirit of Drumming Scholarship Award

Neil Peart’s legacy, artistry, inspiration, and the impact that his drumming will forever have, is what the Neil Peart Spirit of Drumming Scholarship is all about. His wonderfully constructed drum parts, his lyrics, and his commitment to drumming will always inspire us and represent a touchstone that drummers recognize and aspire towards. Neil left us Rush recordings, educational products, books, and interviews that will help each of us find our own way in drumming and in life. He leaves behind the memories of some of the most iconic drum solos, drum parts, and drum sets ever to be played. Like his drum heroes before him, Neil’s drumming impacted us all and inspired us to find our own spirit in drumming. Neil’s lyrics and drumming voice inside of Rush’s music will always hold a special place in our hearts.

In honor of Neil’s life, legacy, and the lineage of great drumming, the Neil Peart Spirit of Drumming Scholarship was created and is being presented by David Frangioni, Modern Drummer, Carrie Nuttall-Peart, Olivia Peart, Rob Silverman, Dennis Wolfe, and the Universal Music Group. The scholarship honors the legendary Neil Peart by inspiring and nurturing a young drummer with the goal of developing the next generation of drumming talent. The Neil Peart Spirit of Drumming Scholarship has previously been awarded to Maxx Rinkus and Aimee Peckham, two exceptional young drummers whose talent and dedication embody Neil’s spirit.

2025’s scholarship recipient will receive one year of private drum lessons with Modern Drummer educational innovator Rob Silverman. Rob remembers Neil in this way, “It was Neil’s ability to compose drum parts that develop throughout a song, drumming is not just keeping a beat. It’s being a part of and developing the excitement while telling the story of a song. That’s what I think is the strength of Neil’s drumming. Neil’s body of work is so vast that it took me a lifetime to absorb it. I think it’s going to take future generations their own lifetimes to absorb the entirety and depth of the Rush catalog.” Advertisement

Rob also shared with us some of the things that he had worked on with the past winners of the scholarship. “With Maxx Rinkus, we did some stuff from my five instructional books, and we worked on odd time signatures and some double bass beats and fills. We talked a lot about Neil Peart’s drum set and his percussion instruments. We also talked about all the extracurricular stuff about Neil. It wasn’t just straightforward how to play the drums.

Rob continued, “Aimee Peckham studied with me for over a year, we did a lot of snare drum reading from my books and from Wilcoxon. We learned a few Rush songs like ‘YYZ,’ ‘Spirit of the Radio,’ and ‘Tom Sawyer,’ from beginning to end. There was also a newer Rush tune called ‘Turn the Page’ that I didn’t know, so Aimee and I transcribed and learned it together during our lessons. I also helped Amy get set up with her own personal recording system at her drums. She got an interface for her laptop, and I helped her out with microphone selection. We also did a few piano lessons. All in all, we worked on stuff that I thought she should know, and then I also had her create her own curriculum.”

When Modern Drummer asked about Rob’s own favorite Rush songs, he was enthusiastic, “Strangely enough, my favorite Rush tunes come from the very early stuff, Farewell to Kings, Permanent Waves, as well as Moving Pictures and Signals. Of course, I love side two of 2112, then there are songs like “Countdown,” which is not one of the most popular Rush songs, but it’s a personal favorite. I just love the way it makes me feel, it brings me back to a specific time in my life. “Losing It” is a sad song that I love. That song gives me a certain feeling that none of the others do. The song “Marathon” (from Power Windows) is another favorite of mine. But there are just so many great songs and so much great drumming! Neil’s concert tom fills are one of my favorite things about his drumming, I was always fascinated by his 6, 8, 10, and 12” concert toms. I’ve always had some version of those on my kits. The way that Neil played odd time signatures has been a lifelong fascination, and his double bass flurries within the songs are something that I’ve taken from him. I have also worn out the signature Neil Peart ride cymbal beat, to this day I probably play that in every song that I can squeeze it into. The Professor (as Neil was sometimes called) was always this wiser than his years wizard that I looked up to, and to me he’ll always be a superhero.” Advertisement

The scholarship winner will also win a Rush 50 Super Deluxe Edition box set. Rush 50 is a wide-ranging 50-track super deluxe anthology that encompasses the entirety of the band’s long and storied career. The release is bookended with the first ever reissue of their debut 1973 single and a live recording of the last song they ever performed together as a band at their final concert in 2015. Of the new Rush 50 box set Dennis Wolfe (also a drummer, and Neil Peart fanatic) of Universal Music says, “If you are a Rush or a Neil fan, this is something you are going to want in your collection because it’s just that good. The producer of the box, Jeff Fura, is a diehard Rush fan, he’s been the “Rush guy” for many years and was the guy behind the Rush 40th anniversary editions. He’s deep into the Rush camp, he’s a proper Rush nerd (as you need to be to do this stuff,) and he knows what Rush fans want, because he’s one of them. Jeff has ingratiated himself to the world of Rush. Geddy and Alex take a very protective stance on all things that they do, and everything that bears their name has their blessing. Nothing happens without them. The new set is a monument to their career, and what a monumental career it was. The set celebrates 50 years of Rush doing what they did at a level that no one else has done. The Super Deluxe set is stunning, it’s big and it’s heavy, it’s a wonder to behold, just like Rush. The lithograph’s that Hugh Syme created are amazing, as is the graphic novel and the second book with liner notes by David Fricke. So, it’s not only about the music, if you are into the aesthetic of Rush, there is a lot of exciting stuff there for you too. But there are also lots of rare unreleased tracks. It’s just stunning!” The set will be available to fans in five distinct configurations: the Super Deluxe Edition, the Rush Store Exclusive Super Deluxe Edition, the 7-LP Deluxe Edition, the 4-CD Deluxe Edition, and the Digital Edition.

About the Neil Peart Scholarship Dennis Wolfe had this to say, “The entries have run the complete range of talent, production value, and Rush-aficionado-ship. All those things are considered, but the person who is chosen doesn’t necessarily need to have the best lighting and the best audio. We’re looking for a combination of raw talent and raw potential, there’s a real commitment here to seeing who would benefit the most from this scholarship. If you’re already a really good drummer, and you have a lot of resources at your disposal, maybe you’re not going to be the person who benefits the most from this. This is a scholarship it’s not an award, we’re trying to find someone who wants to be a better drummer and someone that would benefit the most from winning this thing. We want to find who, on the other side of winning this, would come out of it with their life being changed. For any drummers that find themselves within the criteria of the scholarship, I encourage you to go for it. Don’t think because you’re not the flashiest or the fastest that you can’t win the scholarship. Again, it’s not an award for the highest achiever, it’s a scholarship for the person who would benefit the most from it.”

Dennis continued, “Neil was a towering figure, his impact on not only the craft of drumming, but on the power of what a drummer can be in a band, can’t be overstated. He showed us how a drummer could push the boundaries and propel drums and drumming as the engine of a band. Neil Peart augmented and amplified the sonic soundscape for the listener, and in Neil’s case, he was also Rush’s lyricist. Neil was a thinking man’s drummer, a thinking man’s lyricist, he was very well read, very intellectual, and very cerebral. His impact and influence will transcend generations, it already has. Certainly, there are drummer’s who have taken it to the next level, but when it comes to this kind of drumming within the construct of a band, no one did it like Neil, and nobody did it like Rush. They changed the world.” Advertisement

Publisher and CEO of Modern Drummer David Frangioni remembers Neil in this way, “The impact that Neil Peart has had on my life, career, and drumming, is much like the impact that he has had on the entire world: undeniable, huge, impactful, and inspirational. I will always remember the first time I heard about Neil’s playing from a drummer a few years older than me at the time. He had discovered Rush on 2112 and told me, ‘Wait until you hear this drummer, Neil Peart.’ It was the first time I heard about Neil, and it turned out to be only the beginning.”

David recalls, “By the time Moving Pictures was released, I was a die-hard Rush fan, trying to learn every beat of every bar in every song. A lifelong mission had begun! I had the privilege of seeing Neil perform many times and every time I was blown away, inspired, and driven to try to play even 1/10th of what I just witnessed in person. I could go on for hours but suffice to say that along the way Modern Drummer and Neil collaborated many times and on very high levels. It’s an honor to work with Neil’s wife Carrie and his daughter Olivia to present the Neil Peart Spirit of Drumming Scholarship. The impact of Neil that will live on forever and inspire generations of future drummers as only Neil Peart can.”

The winner of the Neil Peart Spirit of Drumming Scholarship will also receive a Modern Drummer All Access Subscription and Modern Drummer merchandise. This scholarship is a tribute to Neil Peart’s enduring legacy of inspiring and educating countless drummers worldwide. Contestants can apply here:
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April 2025 Issue