Daniel’s talents and passion run deep in the arts. They were nurtured over the summer at the storied Berklee College of Music.
Daniel Kaminju ’26 brings an unforgettable spirit and energy to his work on the Taft stage. He has delighted audiences with his recent performances, including roles in “Matilda!” and “Peter and the Starcatcher.” Daniel’s artistic talents run much broader and deeper than his impressive acting chops, and were nurtured last summer at Boston’s storied Berklee College of Music, where Daniel participated in an immersive piano and keyboard workshop.
Daniel began studying piano when he was quite young; he returned to playing when he got into music production during spring break of his lower mid year at Taft.
“Then, during sophomore year, I took Honors Music Theory, started taking piano lessons at school, and got to perform a few times with the jazz band. When I heard about the Kilbourne Grant* I decided to take advantage of such a rare opportunity to continue my piano study,” says Daniel.
The program was a mix of core and elective courses, as well as ensemble workshops, performances, and nightly jam sessions. Daniel’s core classes included Jazz, and Ensemble, the latter being an incredibly fun experience, Daniel notes, where students worked through Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely,” with a pro rhythm section—usually drums, bass, and a Hammond organ.
“For electives, I took Improvisation and Non-Tonal Improvisation. Regular Improv was just about teaching good general improv tips, which was really great, since I wasn’t even sure where to start before. We were given a chord progression to try and solo over while also learning about how we can improv over them by using the melody, arpeggios, octaves, and certain scales,” explains Daniel. “Non-Tonal Improv was a bit more experimental than that and was something I’d never really done before. They had us do a couple different things, like create a piece about a random topic on the spot and improvise together. The main idea of the class was to improvise music without thinking about the notes, rather we planned the range, dynamics, groove, and level of energy of the piece to communicate an idea to the listener. It was tough but got me to think about music in a bit of a different way, which I’m grateful for. The class also definitely required a confidence in mechanical playing, something that got me to start drilling a lot harder than before.”
For Daniel, a highlight of the program was meeting and working with so many other diversely talented musicians.
“I got to meet so many people interested in so many different genres and with so many different techniques and philosophies and music niches,” says Daniel. “In the evening, there are jam sessions where students could play with professional musicians. Those sessions, along with Ensemble, were some of my favorite parts of the program; they were rare opportunities and always created some great sounding music! It was nothing less than magical.”
*Established by John Kilbourne ’58 in memory of his parents, Samuel W. and Evelyn S. Kilbourne, the Kilbourne Summer Enrichment Fund provides students with opportunities in the summer to participate in enriching programs in the arts.