Dafnis Prieto
Dafnis Prieto’s revolutionary drumming techniques and compositions have had a powerful impact on the music landscape, nationally and internationally. His various awards and honors include a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, a GRAMMY Award for Back to the Sunset (2018), two additional GRAMMY nominations, two Latin GRAMMY nominations (including Best New Artist in 2007), and the Jazz Journalists Association’s Up & Coming Musician of the Year in 2006.
Also a gifted educator, Prieto has conducted numerous master classes, clinics, and workshops around the world. He was on the jazz studies faculty at New York University from 2005 to 2014, and in 2015 joined the faculty of the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music.
In 2016, Prieto published the groundbreaking analytical and instructional drum book, A World of Rhythmic Possibilities. In 2020, he published Rhythmic Synchronicity, a book for non-drummers inspired by a course of the same name that Prieto developed at the Frost School of Music.
What Are the Odds
Session Description:
25 years after his arrival in New York, the GRAMMY-winning and Latin GRAMMY-nominated drummer, composer, and MacArthur Fellow Dafnis Prieto has utterly shifted the sonic landscape of the jazz and creative music scene. With Prieto’s appearance on the NYC jazz scene likened to “an asteroid hitting the city” (The New York Times), and a reputation that rightfully lauds him as “one of the most multidimensional artists working today” (JazzTimes), the Cuban drummer strikes once again with his 10th album, 3 Sides of the Coin. This album marks the studio return of Prieto’s acclaimed Sí o Sí (“Yes or Yes”) Quartet, a rightfully jubilant cohort comprising Peter Apfelbaum on woodwinds, Martin Bejerano on piano, and Ricky Rodríguez on electric bass.
- Drumset
Date:
Thursday, November 13, 2025
Time:
1:00 PM
Location:
500 Ballroom
Session Type:
Clinic / Performance
Session Format:
Live
