Dan Pena-Ariel

Dan Pena-Ariel is a fun-loving and spirited musician who espouses a “music for everyone” and “all music is real music” perspective. A bit of an idealist, his greatest mission is to help those he teaches to deepen their own authentic connection to music, an inextricable link all of us have to the sonorous arts. He attended Boston College and trained in vocal pedagogy and operatic performance under Hanni Myers. The program at Boston College was robust and taught theory and composition from madrigals to jazz harmony, as well as historical and global perspectives. What makes music music? This is a central tenet of the lesson we all aspire to in the studio, student and teacher alike. 

Following his undergraduate degree, Dan then pursued an M.A. in Music at Tufts University and studied global perspectives and Japanese koto under Cathleen Ayakano Read-sensei. He was inspired by her careful tutelage and devoted commitment to Nakanoshima Kin’ichi’s request that she spread knowledge of the koto in her home country of the U.S. Having received this same mission statement, Dan took a distinct path to teaching these perspectives and introducing this instrument to the masses. After several years of teaching in the metropolitan areas of Boston and Washington, D.C., Dan returned to Massachusetts to work in the Berkshires where he became known for his work in early-childhood music education, having developed a technique to get preschoolers to play the piano with 2 hands in 2 minutes or less: “2 Hands in 2 Minutes.” 

Offering a whirlwind of culture and vocal and instrumental exploration (he has a collection of over 25 rare instruments that he showcases and shares in class in a session called “Instrument of the Week”) music classes with Dan Pena-Ariel are as illuminating and lively as music itself tends often to often be. It is his primary goal to help students better understand the true essence of music and above all to have fun!