David Dieni is a graduate of both the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As a drummer and percussionist, his experience encompasses everything from rock to classical, jazz, and musicals.
David served as principal percussionist with the Napa Symphony and assistant principal with both the Sacramento Philharmonic and Stockton Symphony. He has performed frequently in the Mendocino Festival Orchestra and the Berkshire Choral Festival with the Springfield Symphony (MA). He’s currently percussionist with the California Pops Orchestra and timpanist with the Golden Gate Park Band. He has been fortunate to perform with the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Dave Brubeck, Carol Channing and Judy Collins.
As a theater drummer, David was in the West Coast revival of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris at the Marin Theater Company; performed with Sharon McKnight in California Cabaret’s production of Ruthless! and with Lee Meriwether in Happy End. He has performed in many shows with Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Broadway By The Bay and Woodminster Summer Musicals.
David has recorded for Koch International on the Ursala LeGuin/Eli Armer collaboration, Uses of Music in Uttermost Parts, and is a recipient of a Meet the Composer grant for his own music.
He was invited by Dom Famularo to assist in creating the new, revised edition of George Stone’s seminal work, Accents and Rebounds. The team of collaborators included Danny Gottlieb and John Riley. The new edition was released on Alfred in 2012.
In 2017 David published his first book: Drumming In All Directions- A System for Achieving Creative Control, available on Hal Leonard.
He maintains a busy teaching schedule at his SF Drum School, which has proved an active training ground for the next generation of drummers and percussionists.
David is a member of the Vic Firth Education Team and the Sabian Education Network.
THEATER - SELECTIONS
- Transcendence Theatre Company - Mark Gasbarro, Music Dir.
Summer Broadway Festival in Jack London State Park - Drums - Broadway By The Bay - Til Tribuzi, Music Director
La Cage Aux Folles - Percussion & Mallets - Contra Costa Musical Theatre - Karl Pister, Music Director
Sunset Boulevard, Evita - Percussion & Mallets - Pacific Coast Repertory Theatre - Pat Parr, Music Director
Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat - Drums - Marin Theatre Company - Steve Sanders, Music Director
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well - Drums - California Cabaret - Greg Zema, Music Director
Ruthless the Musical - Drums - Crossroads Theatre - Matt Smart, Music Director
Into The Woods - Percussion & Mallets - Berkeley Repertory Theater - Tony Taccone, Director
Caucasian Chalk Circle - Drums - City College of SF - Michael Shahani, Music Director
Drummer for Theater Department
Partial - Westside Story, Songs for a New World, Godspell - Musical Theatre Works - Carolyn Miller, Director
Grease, Music Man, High School Musical - Drums - George Coates Performance Works - George Coates, Director
Desert Music (Based On Steve Reich’s Music) - Marimba
Symphony/Ensembles - Selections
- California Pops Orchestra - Percussion
- Golden Gate Park Band - Timpani
Sacramento Philharmonic - Associate Principal (7 Years) - Stockton Symphony - Second Percussion (7 Years)
- Napa Symphony - Principal Percussion (2 years)
- Mendocino Music Festival - Second Percussion (10 Years)
- Berkshire Choral Festival, Springfield Symphony (MA) - Percussion (15 Years)
- Pavarotti World Tour Orchestra - Principal Percussion
- Skywalker Sound Studio Orchestra - Percussion
- Golden Gate Opera, North Bay
- Opera, Livermore Opera - Timpani
OTHER - SELECTIONS
- Trio Dieni (Jazz Trio) - Drummer
- The Sprocket Ensemble - Art Animation with Live Music, Drummer
- Palo Alto Philharmonic Concerto Competition. Finalist - Marimba; Fantasy on Japanese Woodprints
Endorsed by Vic Firth and Member of the Vic Firth Education Team
TEACHING
- SF Drum School
Instruction on Drum Set and all Classical Percussion - Saint Ignatius College Preparatory
Percussion Coach - San Francisco High School of the Arts (SOTA)
Percussion Teacher - Pacific Sticks Percussion Quartet
Educational Concerts & Workshops in Bay Area Schools - Northern California Music & Art Culture Center
Drum Set Teacher
EDUCATION
- San Francisco Conservatory - Masters in Percussion
Barry Jekowsky, Ray Froelich - Oberlin Conservatory - Bachelor of Music
Michael Rosen, Percussion & Michael Daugherty, Composition - Jack Van Geem - Principal Percussion, Marimba Soloist
San Francisco Symphony - Dom Famularo - Worldwide Drum Clinician & Teacher
Master of the Stone-Moeller System of Drumming - Fred Hinger - Timpanist
Philadelphia Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera - Alan Dawson - Master Jazz Drummer
- Dean Anderson - Mallet Teacher
Berklee College of Music
Recordings - CD
- Uses of Music in Uttermost Parts - Eli Armer, Ursula Le Guin Koch International - Solo Percussion
- L’Avventura - Your Star Was Shining Timpani
- Carmina Burana - Percussion
San Francisco Concert Chorale - John Bush, Director - Music of Swiss Composers - Percussion
San Francisco Sinfonietta - Urs Steiner, Director
Publishing
- Assisted with revision of George Stone’s Accents & Rebounds
Alfred Music Publishing