“Dr. Dan” is the President/CEO of the Mandarins of Sacramento. He marched nine years with the Mandarins and the Seattle Imperials where he was a soprano and mellophone soloist. He received the Mandarins’ Joe Fong Award for the Most Outstanding Member in 1981. Dan was the Mandarins’ brass caption head from 1982 to 1993 and from 2005 to 2008, during which the Mandarins won three of their eight DCI World Championship titles. He returned in 2012 as the brass caption head and continued his tenure through 2016.
He has instructed and arranged music for the Mandarins Brass Academy, a program that teaches brass students of all skill levels in the Sacramento region. Dan has written every Mandarins field show brass charts from 1982 until 2011. He has also worked with numerous wind sections in the Sacramento region including C. K. McClatchy High School, Sacramento High School, Elk Grove High School, Cordova High School, Cosumnes Oaks High School, West Campus High School, and Ponderosa High School. He writes and teaches at Cordova High School and is currently on the teaching staff for J.F. Kennedy High School, River City High School, and the Sacramento State Marching Band under Dr. Santiago Sabado. He has also been a guest conductor for the Sacramento Youth Symphony. Dan is an optometrist in Sacramento where he resides with his wife Patty. Both of his son’s Kyle and Jared were active in their high school bands and the Mandarins.