Dan Mellott

Dan Mellott headshot

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Departments

Technology and Applied Composition

Courses Taught

TAC 300/PDV 300 - Topics in Computer Science

Education

Bachelor's of Music - Piano Performance, Eastman School of Music

Associate's of Applied Science in Sign Language Interpreting - National Technical Institute for the Deaf/Rochester Institute of Technology

Master's of Computers and Information Technology - University of Pennsylvania

Q&A

What is your hometown?

Kent, WA

What is your favorite recording?

Richter playing the Schumann Fantasy Op. 17 - I have yet to find someone that can play it better.

What are you passionate about outside of music?

Tech

Who were your major teachers?

Douglas Humphreys, Rebecca Penneys, Mark Salman

What is a favorite quote that you repeatedly tell students?

Asking for help. If something is confusing or unclear, instead of spending an hour (or more!) on trying to figure out, ask for help.

What was a turning point in your career?

Learning about the growth mindset and imposter syndrome. Figuring these out unlocked a lot of growth in a very short amount of time.

If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?

Running my own software/tech company

If you could play only three composers for the rest of your life, who would they be?

Robert Schumann, Brahms, Prokofiev

What is your unrealized project?

Learning and performing the Schumann Fantasy

What do you think makes a concert experience unique?

When I feel like I'm a different person when I leave compared to when I arrived.

I'm a former pianist turned sign language interpreter turned computer programmer turn business owner. Currently I'm running my own video game studio where we build games for PC and game consoles.

Events