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Kyle Dunleavy, first and foremost, is a craftsman of the steelpan musical instrument.
Born and raised in Connecticut, U.S.A., Kyle was introduced to the steelpan as a player first. It began in 1993 at the college level, during his musical studies at the Hartt School of Music, also in Connecticut. Dunleavy played in The Hartt School steel band for 4 years, and learned about traditional steeplan music as well as steel band arranging and solo steelpan performance.
While capturing his Bachelor’s degree in music, an obsession with the instrument was formed, and Kyle moved on to work full time at the company Panyard, Inc. in Ohio for 2 years. Within that time, Dunleavy developed his skills and became head finish tuner for the company. Most importantly though, the time period was an incredible opportunity for Kyle to also attain exposure to other styles of steelpan building. Dunleavy used the opportunity to become heavily influenced by some of the other great craftsmen whose work he respected and learned from, including: Ellie Mannette, Roland Harrigin, and Bertram Kelman.
In 1999, Kyle formed his company Kyle Dunleavy Steel Drums, to offer his building and tuning services to the world. Set on a strong foundation of industry experience, fused together with unique influences, Dunleavy began to forge his own style of pan making. Kyle maintains an active schedule building and tuning all the voices of the steel orchestra, from start to finish, out of his workshop in the Philadelphia area. Along with crafting full bands for schools, Universities and community groups, custom instruments were recently made for some of the world’s top artists, such as Ray Holman, and Victor Provost. Dunleavy also tuned the entire band for CrossFire Steel Orchestra, the 3rd-placing band from the 2016 Brooklyn Panorama, along with CASYM Steel Orchestra in 2019.