Darryl :: Job Search

Darryl began playing the piano when he was 6 1/2 years old. Since that time, he has studied under private teachers, mentors, and friends who have helped shape him musically into who he is today. In 1994, he was accepted into the prestigious Orange County High School of the Arts Piano Program, where he was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by his peers, and where he also spent time learning to sight read and work as an accompanist for the school's Musical Theatre Department.

Also during that time, Darryl partnered with several high school students in the Southern California area to coordinate, lead, and co-direct the choir for the Arena Liturgy at the annual Los Angeles Archdiocesan Religious Education Youth Day event. In 1994, one of Darryl's original compositions (co-written with lyricist Christine Fitzgerald), "Hunger No More," was featured as the communion piece for the liturgy.

Since that time, Darryl has left the Catholic Church, but has continued to pursue music, working from 2001-2004 as the Choral Assistant for the Roosevelt School of the Arts in Fresno, as well as working for local theatre groups such as Children's Musical Theatreworks Fresno, where he orchestrated and sequenced the MIDI soundtrack used for the summer performace of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

In 2005, Darryl and his family moved to the Bay Area, where he has continued to collaborate with such artists as Joseph Kary, Mark Kenoly, and Tony Bolivar in church and studio environments.

Beginning in Fall 2007, Darryl and his family moved away from the Bay and back to the Southern California area, where he currently works at Knott's Berry Farm as the pianist for the Calico Saloon Stage Show. He can also be seen playing around town at various churches and theatres.

Darryl began his career in design work early in the 1990's, when he and his friends joined the yearbook team at Carmenita Junior High School in Cerritos, California. There, Darryl attended a seminar that challenged him to think about layout and design -- and started him on a course that would ultimately lead him to pursue a career in graphic arts.

In 1992, while working as the Lab Assistant at Saint John Bosco High School in Bellflower, Darryl began to self-teach himself the ins and outs of Aldus PageMaker 2.0. Since that time, Darryl has continued to work on PageMaker (now in its seventh version), utilizing the program to create flyers, handouts, newsletters, and more. In 2004, Darryl self-taught himself Adobe Photoshop and GoLive, and has recently begun learning Illustrator.

Darryl's work as a Graphic Designer has earned him respect and notoriety amongst several groups, and his work has appeared in publications by Joni and Friends Central California, as well as featured nationally in the 2007 logo design for the annual See You At The Pole prayer rally.

Worship more than music. It's more than art. It's a way of life. True, I use these areas of my life to express my worship, but it's more than that - it's what I can only explain as a response to the Gospel. The Good News. The message that 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ came to this earth to take my place on a cross -- not because I deserved it -- but because there was no other way for me to come into a relationship with Him. For me to be forgiven of my sin.

When it really comes down to it, that's what it's all about. Sure, I'm a Graphic Designer. Sure, I'm a musician. But those really describe ways that I respond in kind to a loving Creator who made me, forgave me, and calls me His own. I guess you can say I'm a worshipper first. And that's life. That's me. Welcome to my world.