Zac Brown Band Percussionist Daniel de los Reyes Visits MHS for Special Performance

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, the Milton Hershey School Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) program hosted professional percussionist Daniel de los Reyes of the Zac Brown Band. During his full-day visit, he participated in lessons with students and ended his day with an outdoor musical performance on campus.

This marks his second visit to MHS to share his love of music with students. Music is a great connector for Reyes; he finds ways to share his passion with others.

“Music is one of the best tools to teach our youth,” he said.

That’s one of the reasons he founded the nonprofit DayGLOW Music. Through the organization, he travels the world teaching student musicians. For him, teaching music is more than instruments and melodies—it also builds kids’ social and emotional skills, such as working on a team and getting along.

“I see myself as a host,” he said. “People come to [our shows] to detach and forget about their troubles. My job is to give 110%. That’s my goal.”

While on campus, Reyes spoke with the MHS concert band about his music career and rehearsed with the percussion section.

MHS senior and drummer Preston Barnett is thankful for opportunities to connect with professionals. He admires Reyes and was honored to work with him one-on-one.

“He was guiding me through the pieces and teaching me new skills,” said Barnett. “It wasn’t a lesson; it was a conversation.”

Barnett was first introduced to music by his mother and was eager to get involved in the MHS VPA program. He has experienced first-hand the positive impact of music education.

While touring the campus, Reyes learned about the 2024-25 school year theme, Raise the Bar. He offered advice to MHS students on how to commit to excellence: “Once you accept and realize that you want to be better tomorrow than today, you have to educate yourself and practice to become better and better,” Reyes said.

He lives by these words as he tours the world with the Zac Brown Band. Reyes shared that he practices his craft four to six hours daily, and you can find him practicing before and after a show.

His lessons motivated and resonated with MHS sophomore Shay Velazquez, who plays the saxophone. She was thrilled by the unique opportunity to learn from and perform with a world-renowned musician. At the end of the school day, Velazquez and the MHS jazz band joined Reyes for a surprise performance in Spartan Commons.

“Band teaches you to be patient and listen to others,” Velazquez said. “At MHS, there are many groups across campus, but in the band, we’re a family.”

Through the MHS VPA program, all students explore their passions through expert instruction and lessons, with all costs covered. In addition, students can participate in many extracurricular performance groups.