Daniel Townsend

Daniel grew up outside Philadelphia and realized how powerful music could be when he began playing with some friends in high school. What started as sonic exploration quickly blossomed into a love of composition and improvisation. He attended West Chester University in West Chester, PA in pursuit of a bachelors degree in music composition and moved to Philadelphia after completing his studies in 2011. After a period of teaching piano and composition lessons and gigging full time, he decided to attend graduate school at the University of Delaware, and ultimately went on to receive a Ph.D. from the University of Florida. His dissertation focused on musical improvisation and his educational intent is to enliven the musical improviser in everyone by creating clear boundaries that students may explore freely.