About
Daniel Piccolo
Percussionist Dan Piccolo regularly performs and teaches in a wide range of musical settings. He is currently active primarily as a chamber musician, soloist, and jazz drummer, and is Associate Professor of Percussion in Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts.
Dan holds both a DMA and BM in Percussion Performance from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and during his master’s studies in U of M’s Jazz Department he focused on improvisation. He has studied concert percussion with Michael Udow, Salvatore Rabbio, Joseph Gramley and Jonathan Ovalle, among others, and his drum set and improvisation teachers have included Michael Gould, Steve Curry, and Ed Sarath. Dan is also skilled in several global music traditions, having studied frame drumming with Jamey Haddad and tabla with Pandit Kuber Nath Mishra in multiple visits to Varanasi, India. A grant from the University of Michigan’s International Institute funded the first of these visits, and he returned to Varanasi in the winter of 2015 thanks to an award from the Presser Foundation. An additional award from U of M’s International Institute made it possible for Dan to begin formal studies of West African music in Ghana in the summer of 2014.
Dan edited a newly-discovered collection of swing variations on “The Downfall of Paris” that were written by Charley Wilcoxon. The volume was published by Ludwig Masters in 2024. Dan’s debut solo recording, Monobot, was released on the Equilibrium Recordings label in December 2020. In October 2019 Dan gave the world premiere of Evan Ziporyn’s concerto for drum set and wind ensemble, Impulse Control, which written was written for Dan and for which he led the commissioning consortium. Dan has also premiered works by composers including Aaron Kernis, Christopher Dietz, Emma O’Halloran, and Adam Silverman, as well as his own compositions, and he continues to work actively with composers to commission new solo and ensemble works for percussion.
Dan has appeared as a soloist with groups including the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the University of Michigan Percussion Ensemble, and as a guest artist at colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. As a chamber musician he has enjoyed collaborations with notable artists including Third Coast Percussion, composer/pianist Harold Budd, percussionists Ji Hye Jung and Joseph Gramley, the arx duo, pianist Sonya Belaya, and the Detroit Chamber Winds. Dan also remains active as a jazz drummer, working with musicians such as John Scofield, Regina Carter, Mike Stern, and Stanley Cowell. 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 and recorded as a member of Cloud Nine Music, The Ragbirds, His Name is Alive, and others. Dan continues to perform regularly with symphony orchestras, rock bands, Indian classical music ensembles, jazz groups, and in various chamber music configurations. This busy performance schedule has earned him invitations to perform at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention and the annual conference of the International Society for Improvised Music.
In addition to his busy professional schedule, Dan is a dynamic educator, teaching a broad range of percussion instruments in private and classroom settings. He has presented workshops and masterclasses at universities throughout the United States, and has twice been selected as a clinician at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Dan spent six years as the coordinator of the percussion program at Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School, during which time the school was twice named a Grammy Signature School. In 2016 Dan joined the faculty of the College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, and during the summer months he enjoys being a member of the percussion faculty at New England Music Camp in Sidney, Maine. Prior to his appointment at BGSU Dan was Assistant Director of Percussion at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
An active member of the Percussive Arts Society, Dan served as a member of the World Percussion Committee from 2014 to 2019, and he currently serves as Associate Editor for Professional Development for the Society’s journal, Percussive Notes. He has been an office in PAS’s Ohio Chapter since 2021.
Dan proudly endorses Cooperman Frame Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets, Pearl/Adams percussion instruments, and Remo drumheads. For more information please visit www.danpiccolo.com.
Jonathan Ovalle
Jonathan Ovalle is a percussionist and designer from Detroit, Michigan, whose diverse experience spans music, education, technology, leadership, collaboration, engagement, recruiting, retention, and strategic planning.
Higher Education Leadership
His career in higher education includes a consistent track record of leading program growth at both large Tier 1 institutions and smaller regional universities. Most recently at Saginaw Valley State University, he led the percussion program to a 900% increase in enrollment between 2021-2025, alongside a 100% increase in drumline participation and a 95-99% retention rate. These results stem directly from strategic leadership, culture-building, and targeted retention initiatives.
In addition to Saginaw Valley State University, he has held teaching positions at Plymouth Canton Educational Park, University of Toledo, and the University of Michigan, where he taught applied lessons, served as co-director of the percussion ensemble, director of the Latin Jazz ensemble, and served as a faculty associate in Latino studies.
Teaching and Mentorship
As a dedicated teacher and mentor, his former students have achieved widespread success, pursuing studies at institutions including the Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, Juilliard School, Boston University, Peabody Conservatory, University of Michigan, Mannes College of Music, and University of Southern California, among others. They now hold professional positions in symphony orchestras, military bands, as university percussion teachers, freelancers, chamber musicians, entrepreneurs, and public-school educators.
In addition to academic teaching positions, he has served as faculty at the International Percussion Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and Idyllwild Summer Chamber Intensive. He has been a featured guest artist at the University of Central Florida Summer Percussion Symposium, as well as the Ohio, Tennessee, Ontario, Michigan, Idaho, Quebec, and Emory University Days of Percussion.
Performance Experience
He has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Brass Band of Battle Creek, and Sarasota Opera. He has performed and collaborated with jazz artists Tim Whalen, Bobby Streng, Vic Juris, Ellen Rowe, Andrew Bishop, Roland Vazquez, Wesley Reynoso, and Pepe Espinosa, toured with the percussion duo Percunova, and is currently a member of the genre-bending world percussion chamber group Ensemble Duniya.
His convention and festival performances include the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, The Midwest Clinic, North America Saxophone Alliance, Jazz Educators Network Convention, Green Box Arts Festival, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Texas Bandmasters Convention, Detroit Jazz Festival, and Jazzloop, as well as solo and chamber performances in Scotland, India, Thailand, Canada, and 20 U.S. states.
Recent Projects
Recent recording projects include Vent (2022) with saxophonist Jeffrey Heisler and pianist I-Chen Yeh, and Time's Arc (2024), the debut recording of Ensemble Duniya. Notable composition and arranging projects include co-arranging and co-orchestrating the Musical Theater International production of 1660 Vine (2024), as well as Snapshots, a new work for solo bassoon and electronics premiered in March 2023 by bassoonist Susan Nelson.
Education and Endorsements
He is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater & Dance, where his teachers included Michael Udow, Julie Spencer, Michael Gould, Gerald Cleaver, and Ted Piltzecker. He is an artist/endorser with Pearl/Adams, Zildjian, Remo, Tapspace, and Innovative Percussion.
In addition to his work as a musician, he is a freelance web and user experience designer who works to improve lives through better technology. When not performing or teaching, he can be found deep in a creative Logic session with his favorite plug-ins and virtual instruments or strategically arranging rectangles in Figma.
Brad Billmaier
Brad Billmaier is a Toledo-based performer, composer, and educator, and an in-demand drummer throughout the region.
Brad holds degrees in jazz studies and percussion performance from The University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University. As both a bandleader and sideman, Brad’s career has taken him throughout the country (NYC, Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Columbus, Buffalo, Cleveland, Madison, etc.) and to some of the midwest’s foremost locales (Cliff Bell’s, The Blue Llama Jazz Club, Merriman’s Playhouse, SPACE, Elkhart Jazz Festival, Ginger Rabbit, etc.). Brad has collaborated and shared the stage with the region’s foremost performers including: Ellen Rowe; Edward Gooch; David Bixler; Bryan Olsheski; Ramona Collins; Cliff Monear; Mark Tonelli; Gene Parker; Ray Parker; Zakk Jones, etc. He has also worked with international luminaries such as 2008 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition Winner Jon Irabagon, Estonian guitarist Jack Sooaar, and Israeli guitarist/oudist/Avishai Cohen bandmate Ahmos Hoffman.
DMA Students
Masters Students
Undergraduate Students
Robert Breithaupt (BM, MM) - Retired Professor of Percussion, Capital University
Olman Piedra (DMA '13) - Associate Professor of Percussion, University of Toledo
Zeca Lacerda (DMA '15) - Professor of Percussion, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso
Eric Sooy (BM ’90, MM ‘93) - Founder and President, Black Swamp Percussion
James Armstrong (MM '94) - Instructor of Percussion, Millersville University& Elizabethtown College
Dane Newlove (BM '83) - Asst. Principal Percussionist, Lima Symphony Orchestra, Principal Percussion, Old Crown Brass Band [Ft. Wayne, In.] Director of Materials and Awards, Ohio Music Education Association; and percussion specialist for the Coldwater and St. Marys Schools in West Central Ohio.
Matt Timman (MM '14) - Percussion Faculty, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp; Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra; Sierra Vista Symphony Orchestra
Michael Varner (MUED) - Retired Director of Percussion, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX
Robert McClure (MUED ’07): Associate Professor of Composition, Ohio University
Ellery Trafford (MM ’13): Free-lance percussionist, member of TAK Ensemble
Jerry Emmons (MM '19)- Adjunct Lecturer of Music, University of Tennessee at Martin; Adjunct Instructor of Percussion, Lane College, Jackson, TN
Felix Reyes (MM ’17) - Digital Archivist/Webmaster for So Percussion; Front Ensemble Instructor, Floral Park Memorial High School; Founding member of Pathos Trio
Michelle Watson (BM ’90) - Assistant Marching Band Director and Percussion Advisor at Chardon Local Schools
Ryan Williams (BM '15) - Assistant Band Director, Perrysburg High School
Joe Woodie (BM) - Percussion Specialist, William Mason High School
Daniel Klohn (BM '10) - Director of Bands, Sandusky City Schools
Paul Sansing (BM) - Assistant Band & Orchestra Director, Waite High School
Scott Charvet (MM ’17) - Percussion Instructor, Crockett High School, Austin, TX
Katelen Brown (MM '16) - Instructor for Shockwave Indoor Percussion; pursuing MA in Popular Culture
Mark Cook (DMA '15) -Director of BGSU Falcon Drumline
Nick Dian (BM '14) - Former Stage Manager, Toledo Symphony Orchestra
Sam Fronk (BM '16) - MM student, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
Isabelle Huang (DMA '12)
Billy Sheak (BM Jazz Studies '16) - Drummer/Percussionist, Cedar Point
Tucker Marshall (BM Jazz Studies ‘17) - Free-lance jazz musician, Philadelphia
Emanuel Bowman (MM ’19) - Music Teacher, Winterfield Venture Academy, Toledo, OH
Febe Harmon (MUED '18) - Director of Bands, Brookville Local Schools, Brookville, OH
Eric Cooper (MUED ’18) - Director of Bands, Millcreek-West Unity School District
RJ Siebert (MUED '18) - Elementary Music Teacher, Blissfield Community Schools; Instructor of Music-Interlochen Arts Camp
Jerin Fuller (MUSP '19) - Assistant Percussion Instructor, Dulles High School, Sugar Land, TX
Erin Redick (MUED '20) - Assistant Band Director, Defiance High School
Frances Zengel (MUSP ’21) - Piano tuner/technician at Graves Piano Co., Columbus, OH; Timpanist, Ohio Valley Symphony
Zachary Green (MUED ’18) - K-8 Music Teacher, Pathway School of Discovery, Dayton, OH
Gage Hoehne (MUED ’20) – Band & Choir Teacher, Continental Schools, Continental, OH
Ben Hellert (MM ’22) - Band Director at Pulaski High School (Pulaski, NY); member of Downbeat Percussion Ensemble; member of Buffalo Bills Drumline; World Percussion Group, 2022 - 2023 season
Jacob Hargrove (MM ’22) - Bandwear Sales Representative at Stanbury Uniforms, National Accounts; Percussion faculty at Lane College & University of Tennessee at Martin; Private Lesson Instructor at Rhythm & Grooves Academy, Memphis, TN; Freelance Percussionist
Cole Jackson (MM ’22) - Marching Band Percussion Tech, Heritage High School, Littleton, CO
Cadence Miller (BM ’24) - Graduate Assistantship at Michigan State University College of Music
Nick Bahr (MM ’25) – Selected for Graduate Teaching Assistantship at Florida State University
Kyle Bergler (Comp ’25) – Selected for Graduate Teaching Assistantship at University of Nebraska - Omaha
Frank Sanzo (MUED ’25) – High School Band Director at Cardinal Local Schools, Middlefield, OH
Ian Weil (MUED ’25) – Music Teacher at Kings Local School District, Kings Mills, OH
Emma Zemancik (MUSP ’25) – MM student, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
Nick Fox (DMA ‘24) – Middle School/Upper School Music Teacher, Director of Choirs & Musical Pit, Maumee Valley Country Day School
Updated: 10/23/2025 03:42PM