Beginning in April, Steinway artist, pianist, composer Dan Knight will offer jazz piano lessons in his private West Music studio in Coralville. Dan offers a world of experience in classical and jazz performance. Having studied with Dr. Billy Taylor, Dan passes along the inspiration that education is of the highest importance to musicians and preserving its rich history. Having performed in some of the finest venues of music, Dan brings a master level of musicianship to our program.

Students with some established piano skills who have a strong desire to improvise should contact our conservatory directory for available times.

ABOUT DAN KNIGHT:
Steinway Artist. Pianist. Composer. Peerless improviser. As one for the world's finest improvising musicians, Dan Knight is one of the acknowledged master pianists of his generation.  

The range of his musicianship, reflected in his interpretations of both the classical and jazz "canons" and his compositions both in jazz and in the field of "modern" classical composition, is incomparable and unparalleled in contemporary music.  

His "modern" classical compositions range from solo piano to symphonic pieces, from solo and ensemble vocal music to instrumental performance pieces and works for ballet and modern dance.   His compositions are frequently inspired by masterworks of visual art, and often include both thorough composition and improvisation in a seamless synthesis of creativity, spontaneity and structure.  

As a composer/pianist, he continues to extend the boundaries of style and composition in his impassioned performances of classical music, jazz and free improvisation.   

He's not a "young lion" by any stretch of the imagination. He's much, much more than that.   He's a full-fledged lion, emerging powerfully onto the national and international stage, at the peak of his powers. And he roars.

"He is incontestably one of the finest solo pianists in the world."     
Claude Nobs, Founder and Artistic Director, the Montreux Jazz Festival

"Man, you're great."   
Tenor saxophone legend Sonny Rollins

"Dan Knight is a composer who uses twentieth century artists to inspire his work.   His palette is made up of musical notes and scales:  his brushes are the keys."  
Christopher Lydon, on National Public Radio's "The Connection with Christopher Lydon,"
from WBUR-FM, Boston.

"His musical heritage . . . is a fusion of the best of both the classical and the jazz worlds, combining the passion and the technique of Paderewski with the improvisational virtuosity of Art Tatum."  
The Encyclopedia of Jazz, Rutgers University

"An excellent composer/pianist who can communicate well with a wide variety of audiences . . . a fine musician . . . personable and articulate . . . I recommend him to you without hesitation."   
Dr. Billy Taylor

Click here for an extended biography of Dan and his accomplishments.