Daniel Tones is an award-winning percussionist equally committed to fostering creative development in aspiring musicians. He holds a doctorate in performance and ethnomusicology from the University of British Columbia, and has studied with some of Canada’s most well respected percussionists including Salvador Ferreras, Russell Hartenberger, and John Rudolph. He has appeared at music festivals on three continents and has been broadcast nationally on radio and television.

A love of global percussion led him to study frame drumming, West African drumming and dance, Balinese gamelan, and Cuban percussion with master musicians. Equally at home in the field of Western art music, he is the Principal Percussionist of the Kamloops Symphony and has performed with the Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria symphonies, the CBC Vancouver Radio Orchestra, and the Vancouver Opera. In addition, he appears regularly as a chamber musician with Vancouver New Music and Fringe Percussion.

Daniel is also recognized nationally for his work as an arts administrator. With the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and Con Brio Festivals he produced concerts and workshops and contributed to cutting-edge educational initiatives. As the Managing Director for Fringe Percussion he has received project assistance, music commissioning, and sound recording grants from the BC Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. Most recently he became the Music Program Coordinator for the District of West Vancouver.

Dr. Tones is the recipient of fellowships from the University of Toronto, the Government of Ontario, and the University of British Columbia and individual awards from the British Columbia Arts Council and the Vancouver Foundation. He teaches at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Community College, and Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and is a Yamaha artist.