Musician Dan Saulpaugh has joined the Darien Arts Center to lead new group lessons that include a Rock Ensemble Workshop as well as the Young Composers’ Workshop, in addition to teaching private music lessons in guitar and voice.
The group workshops each take place on Saturdays, beginning on Oct. 13, and private guitar and voice lessons are ongoing.
Photo from Darien Arts Center
Musician Dan Saulpaugh has joined the Darien Arts Center to lead new group lessons that include a Rock Ensemble Workshop as well as the Young Composers Workshop, in addition to teaching private music lessons in guitar and voice.
Dan Saulpaugh is an active performer and teacher throughout the greater New York City metro area and holds a bachelor of fine arts in jazz studies from City College of New York.
— an announcement from Darien Arts Center
He also spent time studying with Douglass Rubio at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music as a classical guitar performance major before relocating to New York City.
While at Crane, Saulpaugh toured with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet playing in the guitar orchestra for performances of Shingo Fujii’s “Shiki.”
While at City College, he studied privately with the Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Competition winner, Lage Lund. Saulpaugh also works actively as a composer, bandleader and sideman.
He released his debut EP “Before the Fire Is Gone” in April.
He was a finalist in The Greene Space’s 2015 Battle of the Burroughs: The Bronx and co-hosts the monthly jam session Jamhattan at Harlem’s Silvana.
Rock Ensemble Workshop
The Rock Ensemble Workshop will accept a group of up to eight students, who, under Saulpaugh’s direction, will form a rock band and play music from across rock music’s repertoire, from 1950’s rock and roll through modern indie rock.
They will learn how to accompany a singer or soloist in a rock style, how to improvise, and how to find a cohesive group sound.
The group workshop will be open to bass guitar, two drummers, three guitarists, piano/keyboard, three singers, two each of trumpet, saxophone, and trombone. Students will be encouraged to bring original material and will perform at the Darien Arts Center Holiday Recital.
The workshop will take place on eight Saturdays from 1:30 to 3 p.m., Oct. 13 through Dec. 8. There is no class on Nov. 24. Fee for the Rock Ensemble Workshop, which is open to grades 5 through 12, is $300.
Young Composers Workshop
The Young Composers Workshop aims to fill a gap in students’ music education that is too often overlooked: the ability to write, notate, record, and perform one’s own music.
Within a friendly and supportive atmosphere, students will learn a variety of compositional technics including writing short pieces using short harmonic progressions, form, melody and voice leading, as well as orchestration.
Students will have their pieces critiqued and the workshop will culminate in a composition project that can be submitted to the Young Composers’ Festival in the spring.
Students will also be invited to perform their pieces at the DAC Holiday Recital. Prerequisites include some level of proficiency with an instrument and reading notated music.
The workshop will take place on eight Saturdays from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m., Oct. 13 through Dec,. 8. There is no class on Nov. 24. Fee for the Young Composers’ Workshop, which is open to grades 4 through 12, is $300.
Also, Private Guitar and Voice Lessons
Private guitar and voice lessons with Dan Saulpaugh, for children and adults, take place on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
For more information or to register, email DAC Music Director Juanita Bosee at juanita@darienarts.org, visit the Darien Arts Center website or call (203) 655-8683.
The DAC is located at 2 Renshaw Road, behind the Darien Town Hall.