Daniel Shiller

Dan Shiller, a world percussionist from Austintown Ohio, earned a Masters of Music degree in World Percussion from Oakland University, Michigan, and a Bachelors of Music in Percussion Performance from the University of Akron, Ohio. Dan has studied with masters from Trinidad, Brazil, West Africa, the Middle East, and Japan. He traveled to Ghana multiple times to study Gyil and African drumming, and currently is under the tutelage of Jerome Balsab, lead gyil teacher at the Dagara music center in Ghana. Currently, Dan performs a solo, live-looping project, focusing on the musical connections between cultures, and was presented as part of the Bath Church Concert Series, and First Fridays at the Butler Institute of American Art, with more scheduled. Dan is a dance accompanist for ArtSparks in Akron and Cuyahoga Falls, directs the SMARTS steel band in Youngstown, runs the percussion ensemble at Ursuline High School in Youngstown, and is a freelance performer.
Bagr Binne

Session Description:

This arrangement of Bagr Binne utilizes live-looping with gyil (Ghanaian xylophone), steel pan, and an ensemble of drums. Bagr Binne is the religious dance music of the Bagr people in northwestern Ghana, and the songs I use were passed down to me by Bernard Woma. The drum loop draws from Brazilian samba, adapting surdo patterns to Ghana’s gungon and kpanlogo drums, while the steel pan mimics a cavaquinho strum. Familiar instruments complete the batteria (percussion section), creating a fusion of Ghanaian and Brazilian dance traditions—rooted in history yet fresh in sound.

This project was inspired by the lost tradition of a gourd xylophone in early Brazil. Wondering how that music might have evolved, I combined gyil melodies with samba rhythms to reimagine a cross-cultural dialogue.

Session Category:

  • New Music/Research

Date:

Thursday, November 13, 2025

Time:

5:00 PM

Location:

Room 120

Session Type:

New Music/Research Presents

Session Format:

Live