Danny Petersen

Danny Petersen was born in Cape Town, South Africa, where his father was the musical director of their church. Young Danny began playing bongos in his father’s band and by 11, he found his instrument, the drums. His skills as a percussionist led to many special tours with jazz and gospel groups, always combining the African beats at the roots of his heritage. The Bill Gather live recording from Africa featured Danny on drums and went on to earn a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album. Danny’s passion to encourage young people to make music resulted in the creation of a music school and the opportunity to travel around to play and provide motivational presentations. During his NAMM interview, he shared some of his inspiring views, such as “The beauty of music is that it brings people together like nothing else on our planet.”