Student teacher Dan Giordanelli grew up doing piano lessons in elementary school and continued to play piano through high school.    

Throughout middle school, high school, and even college, Giordanello has pursued music.  He taught music to others and found out that he loved teaching music.    

“I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love music,” said the student teacher from SNC.

Giordanelli explained that he started singing when he was really young.  He was someone who jumped at every opportunity and was really involved in music, starting with his piano lessons.  

Giordanelli grew up in a family that also loved music, but they never really contributed to his love for music.  His family was a good support group, though, encouraging him to take piano lessons. Giordanelli said that his family continues to enjoy listening to him play and sing.   

Obviously, perhaps, his favorite instrument is the piano.  

“You can see the music more clearly when you look at the white and black keys,” said Giordanelli.

As a student teacher here, he observes Mrs. Salerno’s class and helps students with their music.  Giordanelli’s first impression of the band was that they seemed advanced.

He said the choir knows a lot about music.  He also has been able to teach a few concepts that he did not expect a high school choir to learn.

Giordanelli said that his parents raised him to view teachers as worthy of respect and to view their job as one of the most important.  His band teacher made the greatest impact on his passion for music.

“My high school band teacher had an energy that made the band excited about music and made the class want to learn,” said the student teacher.

Giordanelli is most looking forward to teaching music theory at Notre Dame.  He hopes to be able to conduct a choir too. His favorite thing about Notre Dame is that the choir has been really respectful towards him and he doesn’t feel like an outsider.  

“Mrs. Salerno has been a great person to work with,” he said.