I love watching students grow and I’ve been doing it for over 20 years. I began teaching regularly in 2002 at Rob Zollman’s Music Learning Centers on the Main Line in the suburbs of Philadelphia. There I taught drum set, percussion, music theory, and ensembles to students of all ages and abilities until the school’s closing in in 2010. At that point I opened my own teaching studio which included many of my students from the Music Learning Centers. After moving back to New York City in 2010, I expanded my studio in Philadelphia to the New York Metropolitan area and became faculty at Church Street for Music and Art in Manhattan. I taught at Church Street until my move back to Philadelphia in the summer of 2015. Since then I’ve been a teaching artist in public schools and arts centers in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and greater Pennsylvania through organizations such as the Kimmel Center and Musicopia. I’ve also taught at The School of Jazz at the New School, Temple University, and Kimmel Center Jazz Camp. I attended the University of North Texas and later graduated from Manhattan School of Music.

As a performer I’ve toured Europe and the US, played many times in the most prominent venues in New York and Philadelphia, and established lasting relationships with an abundant list of collaborators. As a side man in clubs such as Philadelphia’s historic Ortlieb’s Jazz Haus and Chris’ Jazz Cafe, in New York City venues such as the Blue Note, Birdland, 55 Bar, and the Iridium, as well as in countless venues in Europe, I have performed with a plentiful list of well known musicians that include Peter Bernstein, Seamus Blake, Ralph Bowen, Wayne Escoffrey, Stanley Jordan, Luis Perdomo, and Tim Warfield as well as with Philly jazz heroes Bootsie Barnes, Larry McKenna, and Sid Simmons. My frequent collaborators include seasoned bassist Gene Perla (who worked for many years with one of Doug’s heroes, Elvin Jones), guitarist and composer Tim Motzer, organist Lucas Brown, and Chris Coyle’s Outside Sound. I made my debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in March of 2017 playing drum set on the world premiere of Imaginary Day, a Duo Concerto for Vibraphone, Marimba, and Orchestra composed by Pat Metheny, orchestrated and arranged by Chris Deviney. I recently completed an artist residency at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts resulting in a 10-piece suite exploring gentrification, inequality, race, and musical legacy in Philadelphia with collaborators Ursula Rucker, M’Balia Singley, Tim Motzer, and John Swana.

Drum set and percussion lessons are available to ages 6 and up and music theory lessons and tutoring to ages 10 and up.

For those familiar with my work in Max and Max For Live, lessons are also available in those areas of study.

Please call at 267-408-0342 or email me with any questions. Thanks!