Daniel Neufeld

Daniel was born in Fresno, California, and lived there until he was 18. Daniel began learning piano from his mom at an early age, although he eventually decided it was not for him. He tried playing the trumpet for a short period, but was not satisfied with it, so his parents gifted him drum lessons for Christmas in 6th grade. He took drum lessons with Shawn Glyde from then through most of his high school education. He also later took rudimental snare drum lessons from Danny Pendergrass and Race Kreuger. Daniel went to high school at Clovis North High School, where he did a little bit of everything, playing snare in marching band and indoor drumline, playing drumset in jazz band, playing classical percussion in wind ensemble, and learning to write music on his own. He eventually decided he wanted to pursue composition in college, and began building a portfolio. He was eventually accepted into California State University, Northridge, where he got his Bachelor or Music degree with a concentration in Commercial Media Composition. At CSUN, Daniel studied percussion with Aaron Smith and composition with Elizabeth Sellers and Kyle Simpson. Daniel pursued many interests at CSUN, notably percussion performance/composition, and orchestral composition for film and game. While attending school, Daniel also began teaching high school drumline and private lessons in percussion. His students have seen many awards such as bronze, silver, and gold medals, earning spots in local and state honor band, and auditioning into drum corps. Daniel hopes to continue music education, as well as publish sheet music for his percussion works, and write for drumline and marching band.