pROFILE

I’m John Doing, a San Francisco-based drummer and percussionist. I studied classical percussion at the University of Wisconsin and spent 6 years performing and touring in the Wisconsin Army National Guard Band. Then I took an interest in world music and traveled to Guinea, Mali, Brazil, Cuba, and Peru to learn percussion from the source.

I moved to New York in 2010 for my Masters in Jazz Performance from NYU. I studied with Dafnis Prieto, Stefon Harris, Kenny Werner, and many other masters of the craft. I played at the Blue Note, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Bitter End, 55 Bar, Symphony Space, the Public Theater, and more with a variety of artists and musical styles.

Subbing on the Off-Broadway run of Fun Home led to the Fun Home First National Tour. I took an interest in musical theater and have now played over 30 different shows. Subbing on Hamilton in San Francisco in 2019 led to 2 years on the National Tour in the U.S and Canada. I continue to sub on all the Hamilton tours on both drums and percussion. In San Francisco, I work with regional theaters like A.C.T. and Berkeley Rep on shows like The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, A Strange Loop, Nobody Loves You, Galileo, and Co-Founders.

My parents are both retired music teachers and I’ve been teaching for over 20 years. I teach private lessons and work with various organizations to bring music to under-resourced schools. I’ve presented masterclasses with my world percussion trio at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the Juilliard Percussion Seminar, and several other colleges and universities. It is my goal to teach as many people as possible before the robots take over.