Joseph Cullen

Biography

Joe has been an instructor of the Steel Pan course at the University of Toronto since the course was first offered in 2006. He has taught African drumming, jazz history, drum set, steel pan, and drum line for many music camps including the Yamaha Power Music Camp at the University of Toronto, CAMMAC music camp, St. Andrew’s College, Suzuki Music Camps, and regularly taught drumline and steel pan for the Iqaluit summer music camp in Nunavut for ten summer programs. He was also a featured steel pan clinician and soloist for the “Spirit Of The Drum” festival at Laurentian University.

Joe is a graduate of the Humber College Jazz Performance program and a recipient of the Humber College Percussion Award. He toured the Caribbean as a show band drummer on various cruise ships and fell in love with the steel drum. He graduated from the University of Toronto with both the Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education degrees. Joe has over 25 years experience touring across Canada with the National Band of the Naval Reserve, performing as lead percussionist, drum set and steel pan soloist, as well as conductor for two tours. As a columnist, Joe wrote the steel pan column for the Canadian Music Educator Journal for over 10 years of publication. He adjudicated for Toronto’s Caribana Pan Alive competition on several occasions, presented pan clinics for the OMEA conference, and was awarded a lifetime membership from Pan Trinbago, Trinidad’s governing body for steel pan.

Joe is the Head of Arts at West Humber Collegiate, where he teaches one of the largest steel pan credit courses in Canada. He also teaches guitar, concert band, and drumline courses. Thousands of students have learned the rich history and repertoire of steel pan in his classes and clinics over the past 27 years. He is currently an active performer and recording artist on drumset, percussion and steel pan.