Biography

Daniel Edwards is a performer, an educator, and an advocate for world music.  He received his bachelor’s degree in music from Brigham Young University-Hawaii, and is currently studying to receive a master’s degree in percussion performance from the University of Missouri.  Along with orchestral percussion, he performs on the steel pan, the marimba, and a variety of world instruments.  He has toured and performed in regions of the United States, Europe, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, and Australia. 

Besides performing, Daniel has taught beginning music skills to children in Kosovo, and currently teaches percussion at the University of Missouri.  He also spent two years serving as a full time volunteer in Guatemala, where he taught life skills to families and helped in many service projects. 

His experiences with world travel and working with people of other cultures have inspired him to base his life and career around promoting a greater sense of unity and cultural diversity wherever he may be.  He believes that world music is just as valuable as Western classical music, and that the two should be taught side by side in educational systems. 

He is focused on exposing audiences and students all over the world to new genres of music, including steel band, salsa, and Polynesian styles. He hopes that as students learn to perform new genres, they will gain a better appreciation for other traditions and values, and at the same time will form a stronger bond of friendship and unity among themselves as well as among other people from other cultures.  He also wishes to include students from underprivileged backgrounds in his music, so that anyone who is interested in obtaining a quality music education may have the opportunity to do so.

He hopes that his work may spread across international borders and affect anyone who is sincerely interested in learning about world music.  His greatest goal is to use his music not only as a form of entertainment, but as a vessel to spread education, understanding, excitement, cultural diversity, and unity.