The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance announces that Daniel Pinilla will join the Department of Jazz & Contemporary Improvisation as a clinical assistant professor in the fall of 2024. For more than fifteen years, Pinilla, a guitarist, has performed, recorded, and taught in the United States and Latin America.
“I am honored to join the esteemed faculty at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance at the University of Michigan,” shared Pinilla. “I look forward to working with students, collaborating with faculty, and becoming a part of Ann Arbor’s vibrant music community.”
Pinilla maintains an active performing and recording schedule. He has released two albums as a band leader, Intuiciones (FLD, 2011) and Atrás (2011), and is finishing his solo guitar album, Single-Handed. Pinilla’s work as a composer, arranger, and guitarist has been widely recognized, including in a feature in the New York City Jazz Record‘s December 2012 issue, and he has participated in several recordings as a sideman. His composition “Not Even a Portrait,” created with trumpeter Juan Chaves, was honored by DownBeat magazine as the Best Small Ensemble Composition during their 40th-anniversary Student Awards in 2017. He has performed with the Colombian National Symphony, the seven-time Grammy-nominated University of North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band, the Bob Curnow Big Band, Latin American singer Carlos Rivera, and his own Daniel Pinilla Project.
In 2014, Pinilla founded You Art Important, a nonprofit organization dedicated to using music education for social change for children in rural Colombia through music workshops that provide hope and creativity. The project won first prize in the Sherman/Barsanti Inspiration Awards at the University of North Texas.
Pinilla has spoken at various conferences and seminars, including the Jazz Education Network Conference (JEN) and the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and at international meetings like Art and Culture for Social Transformation and the First International Seminar: Theories and Practices of Music Education at Universidad Central in Bogotá, Colombia.
“In addition to teaching jazz guitar, Daniel brings veteran leadership and experience as a classroom teacher,” said Andrew Bishop, professor and chair of the Department of Jazz & Contemporary Improvisation. “We are thrilled to have him as a part of the team and know he will play a pivotal role in the future of the department. We are particularly excited about the experience Daniel brings to our DMA program and know his contributions will be vital to its vibrancy.”
Pinilla previously served on the music faculties of the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho and the Universidad de la Sabana in Colombia. He received a BM from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and an MM and DMA from the University of North Texas.