Biography
Daniel Albertson, originally from Wichita, Kansas, is a graduate of Washburn University (B.M.E. ‘21) and the University of Delaware (M.M. ‘23). He is an Assistant Professor of Music at Kansas Wesleyan University (https://www.kwu.edu/about/our-campus/music-studios-and-facilities/) in Salina, Kansas, adjunct Professor of Percussion at Barton Community College in Great Bend, Kansas, and is currently furthering his education at the University of Kansas in pursuit of a Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance. Additionally, he serves as the current president of the Kansas Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society and is the Festival Coordinator of the Sunflower Music Festival, hosted in Topeka, Kansas during the summer months. Prior to these appointments, he served as the 5-12 Band Director and 7-8 Choir Director for the Ellinwood USD 355 school district in Ellinwood, Kansas during the 2023-2024 school year.
Albertson has enjoyed a vibrant teaching and performance career, serving on staff at several high schools in Kansas and Delaware as a percussion specialist. He has played in a wide variety of mediums both in the United States and abroad, as well as performed with percussion professionals such as Quey Percussion Duo, Sandbox Percussion, Sō Percussion, Third Coast Percussion, Michael Burritt, and the United States West Point Band.
Daniel received numerous accolades during his undergraduate work, including first prize for the 2019 Kansas Percussive Arts Society Snare Drum competition, a semifinalist finish at the 2020 Naftzger competition in Wichita, Kansas, and the 2019 Washburn University Most Outstanding Music Major of the Year award. While working towards his Masters degree, he was awarded with a Graduate Teaching Assistantship for the University of Delaware percussion studio and was an inaugural member of the University of Delaware Graduate Percussion Group. As a member, this ensemble won first prize at the PASIC Concert Chamber Percussion Ensemble competition in 2021 and runner up the following year in 2022, and were soloists for Viet Cuong’s “Re(new)al” percussion concerto with the University of Delaware Wind Ensemble in 2023. His primary teachers have been Steve Hatfield, Dr. Tom Morgan, Dr. Von Hansen,
Dr. Gene Koshinski, Dr. Tim Broscious, and Garrett Arney.
