Dr. Patterson joins the UNT College of Music faculty as an Assistant Professor of Popular Music in the Division of Jazz Studies in August 2018. He earned the D.M.A. in guitar performance at the University of Southern California in 2011, with a music education minor field and elective fields in music recording and jazz studies; the M.A. in ethnomusicology at the University of California, Berkeley in 1999, with a research focus in Japanese popular music; and the B.A.
Nick Finzer will join the faculty of the UNT College of Music as an Assistant Professor of Jazz Trombone in August 2018.
Pianist, composer and educator Dave Meder is quickly becoming one of the prominent artists of his generation, known for a panoramic, genre-bending approach that has earned him slots in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition and the American Pianists Awards.
Scott Tixier is an Assistant Professor of Violin (Jazz/Popular/Alternative Styles) in the UNT College of Music. One of his generation’s extraordinary talents, Tixier has made a name for himself as a violinist-composer of wide-ranging ambition, individuality and drive — “the future of jazz violin” in the words of DownBeat Magazine and “A remarkable improviser and a cunning jazz composer” in those of NPR.
Quincy Davis is Assistant Professor of Drumset at the University of North Texas. Prior to his appointment, Davis was Assistant Professor of Jazz Drumset studies at the University of Manitoba (Canada).
Born in Grand Rapids, MI, Davis comes from a very musical family. He began taking drum lessons at age 6 and often would play with his brother Xavier Davis (piano) in their basement. In his elementary and middle school bands, he also played trumpet and tuba.
Dr. David Mooney is Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies (Guitar) at the University of North Texas. Prior to his appointment, he served as adjunct professor at the University of New Orleans and was an instructor at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.
“Aggressive but never forced” describes the music of Noel Johnston to a T. His is a veritable wall of sound across which is graffittied a diagram of fire, sweat, and professionalism. The Dallas area-based guitarist grew up in Southern California, where he began his musical training on violin from an early age before switching to cello at 7. In spite of his keen abilities with a bow, his fingers yearned for a pick.
Assistant Professor Tanya Darby teaches lead trumpet lessons and Introduction to Jazz Recordings and directs the Three O'Clock Lab Band. She earned a master's degree in Jazz Performance from Rutgers University in 2012 and a bachelor's degree in Jazz Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in 1998.
