A graduate of the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music with a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University, Danny English is the Director of Music Ministries at the Aspinwall Presbyterian Church. For the past seven years, Danny has taught students of all ages the art of storytelling with music through his insightful piano, theory, and composition lessons. As a composer, Danny’s music has been performed at festivals across the country and he also designs custom music cues for content creators and for media.
ASN: Can you share your post-school journey? I understand that you were an insurance agent for a few years but are now doing music full-time.
DE: In May 2017, I finished my Advanced Music Studies certificate at Carnegie Mellon University. This was following a master’s degree in music composition there. At the time, I had wanted to pursue a doctorate with the goal of becoming a professor one day. However, I wanted to work for at least a year or two to earn some money so I could finance my music career. Launching a composing career can be quite expensive. Hiring musicians to play your music and paying them fairly, booking recording studios and purchasing my own equipment, traveling to conferences and festivals—this all costs a lot of money.
So, I took a job with a local insurance agent who I knew for years and I helped him run his business. One year became two. I got really good at this job, earned more responsibilities and then became the office manager. Now firmly entrenched in this job, with a nice paycheck every month, it became harder and harder to quit because my growing lifestyle depended on the income. As I spent more time at this job, I spent less and less time on music. Ever since I was in grad school, I served as a music director for a local church and I continued to do this on weekends. And I always had a few piano students whom I taught from the church. But other than these two things, I wasn’t really that engaged with music.
Then in 2023, I was presented with significant health challenges that forced me to reconsider my life. I ended up leaving the insurance job and decided to focus 100% on music. I took on more students at the church and I joined the staff of a private arts school. I revamped the music program at church, throwing myself into building it up now that I had more time to devote to it. And I started actively composing again after almost 6 years away from it.
ASN: What’s a week-in-the-life of a church music director?
DE: My church is in a beautiful suburban Pittsburgh community called Aspinwall. It is a very walkable town, with lots of sidewalks. In fact, many of our members walk to church. I also live only five minutes away so that’s great for me. I meet with the pastor most weeks and we will plan the service and how the music will fit. We have one service, Sunday at 11 am.
Over the years, I’ve maintained my relationship with Carnegie Mellon and I continue to bring in guest musicians from there and other local universities. I will often feature my own original compositions in church and I regularly do arrangements of hymns or improvise on the spot. Also, CMU music professors will often ask me to mentor classes by incorporating the students into my music program. The students can gain valuable experience by using their skills in a meaningful way that helps a church and the community around it.
Lastly, I organize a Community Singers group. Like many churches, Covid killed our choir program and interest had been dwindling for years anyway. We did not sing for nearly two years, and in that time, a number of people either left the church or sadly passed away. But many new faces moved to the area and joined the church. I wanted to maintain some semblance of a choir so I used some money in the music budget to hire student singers to supplement the few volunteers I still had. I set reasonable expectations for such a small group, and I made sure there was a low time commitment so that people could participate when they were able to. I also opened it up to anyone in the community who wanted to participate. Over the last few years, our size has grown and the ability to take on more challenging music has expanded. We sing several times each spring and fall and it keeps that element of vocal music that I feel is an essential component of worship.
ASN: What makes a church music program strong, in your opinion?
DE: I strongly believe that a good music director should leave his or her personal tastes at the door and use his or her skills to truly serve the interests of the congregation. That may mean playing music that you don’t necessarily like, but if that’s what the people want, then do it and do it well. Be open to trying new things as the demographics around you change. My strength is Western classical music, and there are people who love that, but there are also plenty of people who don’t care at all about that. I try to have a diverse music program that uses different styles from classical to contemporary Christian music to global music. I am always trying to find ways to incorporate other people into the music making, which keeps things interesting and allows for others to feel like they are contributing in some way. This includes having some folks lead an unfamiliar song to help everyone else learn it. And of course, there’s all the guest musicians I bring in as well as the Community Singers.
ASN: You also teach lessons and compose. How do these different aspects of being a musician reflect and reinforce each other?
DE: As a composer, I feel I have a very deep understanding of what goes into music. I just hear and see things differently than the average performer or teacher. Because of this, I can get into the mind of the composer and really help my students dissect their piece and bring out certain elements that I feel a non-composer might not realize. This leads to a more thoughtful interpretation and performance. And the more I teach and the more I help others learn music, the more I feel I continue to discover and it spurs my own creativity.
ASN: How do you balance your time with all these activities?
DE: To be honest, I wish I could be doing more! I mentioned I had significant health challenges in 2023. As I continue to battle, I am still somewhat limited in what I can do. I am in need of a kidney transplant and once I am lucky enough to get one, I hope to return to better health. With that, I’ll be able to take on the full workload that I envision. For now, I do what I can which actually surprises a lot of people given the seriousness of my condition.
Dear readers: Being a living donor means you are offering someone a second chance at life by allowing them to receive a kidney transplant sooner. To learn how you can give life, visit UPMC.com/LivingDonorKidney
If you can help Danny, please contact UPMC:
- Phone: 412-647-4438
- Living Donor Registration: livingdonorreg.upmc.com
- Danny’s transplant coordinator is Cherie Peters: 412-261-4115 and petersc5@upmc.edu