Euphonium, Tuba, Trombone, Trumpet, French Horn, Saxophones, Clarinet, Flute, Electric Bass, Piano, Mandolin, Percussion
Originally from Smithtown, Long Island, New York, Dave Fraser began his professional music career in Rochester, New York. Mr. Fraser completed his undergraduate degree at the Eastman School of Music in 2015 with majors in Music Education-Instrumental, and Euphonium Performance. He studied primarily under Mark Kellogg, and learned from some of the top names in music education such as Dr. Richard Grunow, Dr. Christopher Azzara, and Dr. Alden Snell. He spent 2015-2019 as an instrumental music teacher at East Rochester Union Free School District where he taught 6th grade band, 7th and 8th grade band, high school jazz band, middle school jazz band, and brass and woodwind lessons for grades 6-12. While teaching at East Rochester, he completed a Masters in Music at Eastman in Teaching and Learning in 2019.
Mr. Fraser taught Kindergarten-5th grade music at Vanderhoof Elementary School in Arvada, CO from December 2019-May 2020 where he established two choirs, a recorder ensemble, and a percussion ensemble. After relocating back to Rochester, NY in the summer of 2020, Mr. Fraser became the lead instrumental music teacher at the Odyssey Academy in Greece, NY for the 2020-2021 school year. During this appointment, he developed the curriculum for and directed the 6th grade band, middle school jazz ensembles, high school jazz ensembles, and lessons for over seventy middle and high school students in both remote and in-person settings,
As a euphonium player, Mr. Fraser has taken part in festivals with the top names in the euphonium world such as Steven Mead, Brian Bowman, and Adam Frey. He spent two summers at the International Tuba Euphonium Institute, where he took 3rd place in their solo competition in 2013. Mr. Fraser was also the organizer of the Pipeline Tuba Quartet at Eastman, where he coordinated community performance opportunities and arranged performance repertoire.
Mr. Fraser specializes in low brass, specifically euphonium and trombone. He is also proficient in performing and teaching tuba, trumpet, horn, saxophones, clarinet, flute, oboe, electric bass, piano, and percussion.
Mr. Fraser's teaching style is a combination of the "sound-before-sight" or "experience-before-theory" associated with Music Learning Theory; and providing notation reading skills, typical of the school-band experience. His teaching leaves his students with both audiation skills and executive skills, which allows students to become well rounded as both a musician, and an instrumentalist. Mr. Fraser also considers himself is a lifelong student of music theory, and incorporates appropriate levels of music theory into his instruction.