Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts

Dan has performed, taught, and studied internationally during his professional career, which has spanned nearly twenty years.

Dan holds both a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance and a Master of Music in Improvisation from the University of Michigan School of Music. He has studied concert percussion with Michael Udow and Salvatore Rabbio, among others, and his drum set teachers have included Michael Gould, Steve Curry, and Geri Allen. Dan is also skilled in several types of hand percussion, having studied frame drumming with Jamey Haddad and tabla with Pandit Kuber Nath Mishra in multiple visits to Varansi, India. A grant from the University of Michigan’s International Institute funded the first of these visits.

Dan’s performance credits include a wide range of musical settings. For six years Dan was the drummer with Nomo, with whom he toured internationally and recorded three albums for Ubiquity Records. Dan has also toured as a member of Cloud Nine Music, His Name is Alive, Saturday Looks Good to Me, and others. Locally, Dan performs regularly with symphony orchestras, rock bands, Indian classical music ensembles, jazz combos and big bands. He is the founder and director of the group Starbrand, who are quickly gaining notoriety on the Michigan live music scene. In addition to this busy performance schedule, Dan teaches more than thirty private percussion students each week and coordinates the percussion program at Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School, a 2006 Grammy Signature School.

Personal Statement

Four principles define my teaching philosophy: fundamentals, tailoring the instruction to each student individually, building powers of critical observation, and reaching outside our own immediate cultural experience for new sources of inspiration and motivation. I will discuss each of these ideals in detail below after providing a brief summary of my teaching activities.

I have been teaching percussion in widely varied settings for over a decade. Much of this experience has come in the form of private lessons, but I have also taught a number of larger classes. Twice each week I teach the youngest members of a large-scale and very strong band program at Pioneer High School, a public school of more than three thousand students in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I also run sectional rehearsals and direct a percussion ensemble for the twenty students in the more advanced bands. In other settings I have taught numerous workshops in subjects ranging from Indian music (which I have studied intensively in Varanasi, India) to basic rhythm for elementary musicians.

As a percussion instructor it is my responsibility to help each student build a solid foundation by establishing strong fundamental skills. This begins with good snare drum stick technique and indepth
knowledge of the rudiments. It is my strong belief that a good foundation with snare drum skill is the bedrock on which to build a career as a percussionist, and with that foundation a developing musician can translate this technique (with minor changes) to virtually any percussion instrument.

One of the greatest challenges of teaching one-on-one in a private studio is making sure that each lesson is individualized—it is tailored to that student’s unique skill set and particular needs. On days when I teach ten or more consecutive students, this is what keeps each lesson fresh and stimulating for me, which I believe keeps the students engaged as well.

The most valuable skill that I can pass on to my students is the ability to teach themselves. I constantly remind my students that their ears and eyes are their best teachers. If I can help them develop these habits of observation they will grow into much more capable and confident musicians—and intelligent, aware people—than if I were to simply tell them what to play and what not to play, right notes and wrong notes, yes and no. I encourage students to answer their own questions through careful observation of their own playing and decisionmaking
process.

I reflect gratefully on all the places I have seen and experiences I have had traveling throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia as a performer, student, and teacher. While studying in India in 2007, I taught classes in both basic principles of Western Music and rudimentary rhythm. This was a defining experience for me, teaching—across a cultural and linguistic barrier—material that we in
the Western tradition can take for granted. Teaching and studying in an aural musical tradition such as that found in India forced me to re-evaluate my approach to the student-teacher relationship
from both sides, an experience that has profoundly affected my approach to teaching and learning.

Teaching has become an integral part of my career as a musician, and an increasingly exciting and challenging one as well. I am excited for this part of my life to continue to grow and evolve.