Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Moore.
Hi Dan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My name is Dan Moore and I am proud to own the School of Rock South Hills and School of Rock Wexford franchises in Pittsburgh, Pa. I’m a Pittsburgh native and started my musical journey back in 1975 with private piano lessons. I stuck with those lessons for five years playing events around the city and when I reached the age to start middle school, I auditioned for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) program in the Pittsburgh Public School system. I passed the audition and was accepted. At some point in my 6th grade year, I transitioned from piano to percussion and drums and I’ve never looked back. While continuing to play drums in high school and college bands I formed with friends, I also developed my love for carpentry working for my dad’s contracting company. This led me to getting a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and eventually taking over my dad’s contracting company after college.
I met my wife in college and we were married on Halloween weekend in 1995. I continued to play in bands around the city and running my contracting company. We have two amazing daughters and when they were young, I gave up playing drums to concentrate on my business and family responsibilities. As they got to the age of after school activities, Girl Scouts, soccer, softball, etc. I realized that running my own business was causing me to miss a lot of those activities. I eventually closed my business and accepted a project management position which freed up my evenings and weekends.
Our house was always filled with music over television and my wife and I are lovers of many different genres and our daughters listened to it all. They were as big a fan of Hannah Montana as they were Black Sabbath and Sheryl Crowe. One Christmas, we purchased “Rock Band” for the family and that’s what started the musical journey for my daughters. Our oldest daughter, Olivia really took a liking to playing the guitar and eventually started guitar lessons. Our youngest daughter has an amazing voice and continued down that path adding piano as well. Olivia was getting bored with one on one lessons so we searched for something different and found the School of Rock South Hills. We instantly fell in love with the program and saw an immediate change in Olivia both musically and personally. I eventually started teaching drums and our youngest daughter, Julia also joined as keyboardist and vocalist.
I became the Music Director in 2017 and in early 2021, left my project management life behind and became the full time General Manager. Olivia’s first show director, Quinn and I became great friends as we were running the House Band program and in 2024 decided to partner up and purchase the School of Rock South Hills and School of Rock Wexford franchises from the previous owner. Almost two years later I am the happiest human on the planet. School of Rock also got me back into playing drums and I’m currently in four different bands. My wife is now playing bass in our “Grad School” program and has also developed a love for playing music. Watching not only my daughters but so many of our students flourish as musicians and also as incredible human beings is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. I hope to continue for the rest of my life.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a relatively smooth road! The biggest struggle was wrapping my mind around working evening hours at the school after decades of working normal day shifts. It was my wife that convinced me to take the GM position at the school. She reminded me that when I started working part time I was not only working a day job, but I was also working evening and most weekends at the school. I would just be eliminating my daytime hours.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about School of Rock South Hills & School of Rock Wexford?
School of Rock is the world’s largest Performance Based Music Educator. We are a dedicated group of educators that are committed to enriching the lives of our students. Our “Song First” teaching method is hands now the best way to learn to play rock music. We put our students together in a band setting learning rock song and through those songs, we teach musical concepts and theory. This teaching method greatly accelerates the learning curve and keeps students engaged and excited about the learning process. We have grown such an inclusive, welcoming and creative community at both of our PIttsburgh schools. Being able to empower our students to evolve from absolute beginners to rocking on stage is so rewarding.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Community is such an important part of life. I’ve been lucky enough to have been raised in a family that believes in treating everyone they way you’d like to be treated. Bringing that culture to not only my personal life but also the two schools that I own has created an incredible sense of community where everyone feels welcomed and that they are valued.
Pricing:
- Performance Program/45 min. Weekly Lesson $330.00/month
- Performance Program/30 min. Weekly Lesson $320.00/month
- Rock 101 Program/45 min. Weekly Lesson $330.00/month
- Rock 101 Program/30 min. Weekly Lesson $320.00/month
- Adult Program/45 min. Weekly Lesson $330.00/month
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.schoolofrock.com/locations/southhills, https//www.schoolofrock.com/locations/wexford
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schoolofrocksouthhills/, https://www.instagram.com/schoolofrockwexford/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SchoolofRockSouthHills, https://www.facebook.com/schoolofrockwexford
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@schoolofrocksouthhills, https://www.youtube.com/@schoolofrockwexford
