Profile

Marc Dicciani is the director of the School of Music at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and a professor of Drumset and Music Business. He is also co-chair of the National Advocacy Committee of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), and President of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Music Alliance.

As a drummer, he has made concert appearances with a wide variety of artists including Randy Brecker, Joey DeFrancesco, Sammy Davis Jr., The Spinners, Lou Rawls, Jon Faddis, Phil Woods, Lew Soloff,  Clark Terry, John Fedchock, Jeff Jarvis, Diane Schuur, Charles Fambrough, Christian McBride, John Blake, John Swana, Robin Eubanks, Gerald Veasley, Pat Martino and Peter Nero. He’s performed with Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Grover Washington, Jr., Kurt Elling, Jimmy Smith, Boyz II Men, Joan Jett and Natalie Cole; worked on studio sessions for NBC, ABC and CBS television in bands with Doc Severinsen, Snooky Young, Pete Christlieb, Ron Carter, James Moody, Ernie Watts, Stevie Wonder, Ray Parker, Jr. and Lee Ritenour; produced records for Capitol and Arista Records; and recorded for Concord Records with guitarist Jimmy Bruno. He spent many years touring internationally with entertainer Ben Vereen, with whom he still continues to perform in concert.

Marc has conducted countless clinics at colleges and universities including American University, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Villanova, University of Southern California, Duquense, Cal State Long Beach, University of Delaware, Temple, the Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts (England), Projazz (Santiago, Chile), and at many conferences for the International Association of Jazz Education, Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, New Jersey Education Association, New Jersey Association of Jazz Educators, and at the Philadelphia Grammy in the Schools Day. He is a frequent adjudicator and clinician at conventions and jazz festivals around the country, and teaches the nation’s only drumset course for music educators at Villanova University each summer. He is currently completing his fifth instructional drum book.

Marc co-chairs the national committee that created the award-winning “What’s The Download” campaign for the Recording Academy, dealing with the issue of illegal downloading. The campaign was premiered live to 25 million viewers world-wide during a recent Grammy Awards telecast. This committee is a leader in advocating for the rights of the Academy’s 17,000 members and the music community nationwide.

In addition to his work as School of Music Director at UArts, Marc teaches drumset, percussion and courses in music business to undergraduate and graduate students, directs a percussion group (Rumble - the UArts bucket drum ensemble), and produces the annual high school and college jazz festivals.

Marc is an artist/clinician for Yamaha Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Regal Tip Drum Sticks and Remo Drum Heads, and writes for Modern Drummer and In-Concert magazines. Please visit him at his website, here: http://www.dicciani.com/