{"id":1420,"date":"2025-08-04T18:36:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T18:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/?p=1420"},"modified":"2025-08-18T16:35:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T16:35:36","slug":"cmeas-music-educator-of-the-year-dan-obrien-has-always-had-a-plan-and-the-plan-has-been-to-improvise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/2025\/08\/04\/cmeas-music-educator-of-the-year-dan-obrien-has-always-had-a-plan-and-the-plan-has-been-to-improvise\/","title":{"rendered":"CMEA\u2019s Music Educator of the Year Dan O\u2019Brien has always had a plan, and the plan has been to improvise"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"CMEA

CMEA Educator of the Year Dan O’Brien performs on his baritone saxophone at a gig.<\/p><\/div>\n

Growing up in Canton, Connecticut, Dan O\u2019Brien started playing saxophone in 4th<\/sup> grade, and, even at that young age, a plan for his future was seemingly set in motion. Between private lessons and exceptional mentors, O\u2019Brien knew that while he loved soccer, music would be his ultimate pursuit. Years later, at an all-state music event in Hartford, O\u2019Brien met then-Western Connecticut State University<\/a> Professor of Music<\/a> and saxophone player Dr. Dan Goble, and the decision as to where he would attend college became instantly clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prospect of studying with Dan to improve my saxophone craft was what ultimately brought me to WCSU,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201c\u2018Doc,\u2019 as we called him, was such a fantastic teacher and person. He was adamant that I could study both jazz and classical performance in small and large ensembles, as well as solo, at all levels. No place else offered this opportunity to be completely devoted to my music.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a student, O\u2019Brien had the opportunity to perform not only with Goble, but with jazz composer Maria Schneider and other jazz luminaries at WCSU\u2019s annual Jazz Fest. \u201cMaria Schneider even critiqued some of my early writing, when I was still a sophomore,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. In his junior year, one of his original compositions was performed at the ground-breaking ceremony for the university\u2019s new Visual and Performing Arts Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really grateful for all the opportunities and everything I was able to do at WCSU,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cI was in six or eight ensembles, and it was a great way to exhaust all the learning opportunities I had available to me. My undergraduate studies at WCSU paved the foundation for my later graduate and doctoral studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dan

Dan O’Brien conducts a large ensemble.<\/p><\/div>\n

His time in the Music Department also set the course for his personal life. O\u2019Brien met his future wife, Magdalena Widomski, a fellow music student, at WCSU. They both graduated in 2012 with bachelor\u2019s degrees in Music Education.<\/p>\n

After graduating, O\u2019Brien headed south to the University of North Texas for a Master of Music in Jazz Composition and Arranging. \u201cIt\u2019s an internationally recognized program, very prestigious,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. After his 2014 graduation, he was offered his first teaching job at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, where students aspire to become professional musicians, and many of them go on to follow that dream at WCSU.<\/p>\n

Two years later, in 2016, O\u2019Brien was accepted to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he began to pursue a DMA in Contemporary Improvisation. An opportunity arose in Stafford Springs to teach elementary and middle school music students, and it just so happened that his wife taught there, too. \u201cIt was definitely a shift,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cIn order to teach young students, the most important thing is fundamentals. But I also believe in improvisation and creativity at all levels, so I had to find a way for students to experience that. I believe in leading with learning by ear first.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past four years, O\u2019Brien has taught in East Hartford, where his high school band director and former mentor, Tom Scavone, who had inspired him to consider becoming a music educator while he was in high school, hired him to be the director for the middle school global jazz and creative music ensemble and 6th<\/sup> grade music and band. \u201cWe\u2019re working on drumming and cultural rhythms from Africa and Latin America,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cWe need to reach students where they are and where they came from. They are learning to read music, but also to improvise by ear.\u201d More recently O\u2019Brien has added leading the middle school and high school bands, jazz ensemble and 8th<\/sup> grade music classes to his schedule.<\/p>\n

Additionally, O\u2019Brien plays at least 50 gig dates a year. They range from jazz to improvisation, musicals to orchestras, including with Symphony New Hampshire. He said he gets calls all the time from fellow WCSU alumni to play with the New Haven Jazz Underground and other groups.<\/p>\n

\"Dan

Dan O’Brien with his wife, Magdalena, and son, Braxton.<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to performing, what fuels his passion is sharing his love of improvisation not only with his students, but with fellow educators. O\u2019Brien started applying to the Connecticut Music Educators Association in 2022 to offer presentations on how to break down improvisation for students. Since then, he\u2019s taught his techniques at most Connecticut universities, and given at least 15 different presentations to National Association for Music Education (NAfME) audiences. His persistence in teaching improvisation was recognized with the CMEA Music Educator of the Year award in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a well-known award in Connecticut, a distinguished award,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cHopefully it will continue the conversation about innovative ways of teaching and that change is possible and good. Trying to be original is really important, and my focus is on originality. I want to encourage students to create something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

That encouragement continues at home, where his 5-year-old musically inclined son, Braxton, is taking piano lessons, singing, playing the drums and learning brass instruments. O\u2019Brien and his wife, Magdalena, place a high priority on getting him to love and enjoy music with an improvisational spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely grateful for my time at WCSU,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cIt was a very special place to have spent my formative years while aspiring to play unique music, and it\u2019s served me well. I recently showed my son around both campuses and the beautiful Visual and Performing Arts Center facility. My time at WCSU allowed me to cultivate a sense of pioneerism and has enabled me to try to make the world better by encouraging creativity in music education.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals, and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growing up in Canton, Connecticut, Dan O\u2019Brien started playing saxophone in 4th grade, and, even at that young age, a plan for his future was seemingly set in motion. Between private lessons and exceptional mentors, O\u2019Brien knew that while he …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":1421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,51],"class_list":["post-1420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","tag-bachelor-of-music","tag-success-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}