Dan Urban is in his 22nd year as the Assistant Band Director at Hudson Middle School. He teaches the Honors Band and beginner trombone, euphonium, and tuba classes. Before teaching at Hudson, Mr. Urban taught private tuba, euphonium, and trombone lessons to students in the Spring, Klein Oak, Lewisville, Richardson and Plano ISD’s, starting in 1990. He continues to teach privately and performs in ensembles in the Dallas area in addition to his teaching duties at Hudson.
Mr. Urban received his Bachelor of Music degree in Tuba Performance, from Rice University in Houston, Texas, in 1993. His teacher and greatest musical inspiration, is David Kirk, Principal Tuba, Houston Symphony. While there, he shared orchestral tuba responsibilities in the Shepherd School Symphony, under Larry Rachleff. He was also Principal Tuba of the Campanile Orchestra from 1990-1993, under David Colson. In addition, Mr. Urban gave many recitals featuring the world premieres of many 20th century solo tuba works by composition majors.
Mr. Urban continued his studies in Boston, Massachusetts, earning his Master of Music degree in Tuba Performance, with Honors, from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1995. His teacher was Chester Schmitz, Principal Tuba Boston Symphony and Boston Pops, retired. While there, he was Principal Tuba of the New England Conservatory Symphony and the Excalibur Brass, the music school’s top brass quintet. The Excalibur Brass was called upon to perform for such patrons as the Kennedy family, Harry Ellis Dickson, the Boston Museum of Art, the Gardner Museum and film composer John Williams. Mr. Urban was fortunate to be able to perform in orchestras under the direction of many world class conductors, such as Seiji Ozawa, Stanislav Skrowaczewski, and Simon Rattle. Mr. Urban also performed and recorded with the NEC Wind Ensemble under Frank Battisti and the Jordan Winds under Don Palma. He is proud of the CD recording featuring the music of Grainger, Zappa, Hindemith and Revueltas (Lincolnshire Posy, Dog Breath Variations, Symphony in B-flat and Homage to Garcia Lorca).
Mr. Urban is not a native Texan; he grew up and attended Mount Miguel High School in San Diego, California, where he was a three time All-State tuba player. Mr. Urban has two beautiful daughters, Katherine,18, a clarinetist and Elizabeth,16, a hornist. His wonderful wife, Pamelia, formerly of the President’s US Army Field Band, teaches private clarinet lessons to many students in the Plano and Wylie ISD’s. The Urban family lives in Wylie with their basset hound, Charlotte.
Dan Urban