Founder & President: Tom has enjoyed a professional career in drumming with a wide variety of tour, recording and studio experience with the likes of Evelyn "Champagne" King and Grammy recipient "Speech" of Arrested Development. He studied at Shepherd College, Berklee College of Music, NY famed Drummer's Collective and with African drum masters Moussa Traore and Sori Diabate from Mali and Mamady Keita, Famadou Konate and Wadaba from Guinea. Versed in all musical styles, he teaches and plays in the New England area. Click here for Tom Foote's Bio.

Before starting Rhythm Kids, Tom was the Director of Marketing & Sales for a music publishing company. He has helped launch, and support, several start up companies in New York and Boston. Building a business around his passion for drumming and music is a dream finally realized.

Martin Isaac spent his early childhood years on the Caribbean island of Montserrat where he was submersed and entranced by the steel drum rhythms. That love has stuck with him and he has studied hand drumming and West African rhythms and instruments, including the Gyil, a Ghanaian Xylophone, from masters all over the world along with the most noted Bernard Woma from Ghana. A Massachusetts certified early childhood educator, Martin has been working with young children for almost a decade and brings his love for teaching and love of music together at Rhythm Kids.

Zach Nazar is a graduate of Berklee College of Music specializing in West African, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, and Middle-Eastern percussion instruments and rhythms. Zach is a key member of the eclectic acoustic ensemble All of the Animals. He is the lead drummer in the Boston based Brazilian percussion ensemble BLOCO/Afro-Brazil. Zach is on a faculty at Emerson College, Boston Conservatory and Boston Ballet as a dance class accompanist. He has recently accepted a personal endorsement from Vic Firth as well as an invitation to join their education team.

Greg Nikitas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications/Media in 2008. He has been working with children of all ages for the past four years. He toured Massachusetts for three summers performing Aesop's Fables and the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales with the Central Mass Repertory Theatre as an actor, singer and dancer. He also fronts the popular children's band, Flooky and the Beans (www.flooky.com). Greg studied voice for two years at the Indian Hill Music School and has been playing music professionally as a solo acoustic artist for the past few years. Greg learned to play the guitar and drums early in life and currently teaches private guitar lessons and early childhood classes. Greg's energy is contagious and inspires children to enjoy music as much as he does!

Moussa Traore was born and raised in Mali, West Africa. He has been playing the djembe for the past thirty years, and in 1984, after completing a twelve-year apprenticeship, he was deemed a "master" by his teacher, Sega Cisse. Among musicians in Bamako, Moussa is considered to be one of the top djembe playes in the country. He has given drum workshops in cities throughout the U.S. Currently, he is teaching at schools, teaching weekly community classes, leading drum ensembles for West African dance classes and performing with his troupe Timinandi and other Malian artists. Moussa is a world-class player and everyone who hears him has to pick their jaw up off the floor--he is that good!

Chris Belden grew up in Bethesda, Maryland and started his musical journey on the saxophone at nine years old. Chris worked to expand his musical horizons, learning a variety of new instruments and becoming fluent in a variety of musical styles. He studied at Berklee College of Music with renowned instrumentalists like Dino Govoni, Ricordo Monzon and David Fiucczyski. It was during this time, that he began working and volunteering with young children in camps and was able to pass on his love and knowledge of music in the process. Chris lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts, where he plays saxophone, flute, and percussion for a wide variety of groups and organizations. He works as a percussionist for the Emerson College music theatre department and the Boston Ballet’s Adaptive Dance Program for children with Down Syndrome, and is excited to begin working with Rhythm Kids, Boston’s long-running percussion program for children. Chris performs locally with All of the Animals, the Gary Backstrom Band, the Grass Gypsys, and the Excited People.