Today we’d like to introduce you to David Kasper.
Hi David, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When I was 10 years old, I developed a polyp on my throat, and I couldn’t sing in the choir, so my mother got me a saxophone and I started to play. I loved it. I played saxophone and drums in the middle school jazz band eventually audition for the high school jazz band, being the only freshman to make it. I was so fortunate at Westlake high school to play and jazz band every day of my high school career. This only gave an opportunity for my passion and love to grow. I booked some gigs during high school and performed with an original jazz group is a freshman, worship drones, music, Theatre, Drums, and Saxophone for an all city jazz band. I switched for me physical therapy major to Music major halfway through my junior year of college as I started to get my first opportunity to perform with a professional band and started getting hired regularly almost 200 days a year right off the bat. I also started teaching at 18 and soon after becoming a music major I started to develop my own private teaching studio. I’ve taught for 24 years and continue to teach to this day privately and Jazz ensembles for different schools. Over the 22 years of performing, 19 of those years I’ve performed over 300 dates a year. Having so many experiences of performing, to hit a number like that, gave me experience in all genres, also performing clarinet and flute regularly on these performances. The cultural experience of performing with 70 bands in a year has enriched my life and giving me an opportunity to connect with the community and care for more people. Currently a perform at the number one restaurant in Cleveland, the Marble Room on Friday and Saturdays, their SISTER restaurant, ill Venetian on Thursdays and Osteria on Wednesdays, with 2 to six private performance is beyond that. These performances can include weddings, charitable events, like American Heart Association, hotels in the area, national anthem at halftime shows at our sporting events. It has been a great honor to continue to serve our community, as many community events I perform for free, is that is what is expected. I am from Cleveland and this DNA I carry with Pruide and excitement to support what it means to me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Work has been constant, in some ways that is smooth and also challenging to keep up with and make sure you can show up at your best always. In my 20s I would perform 20 Big Bang gigs a month and work 70 hours for $450 as big bands don’t pay much. Even though I was working a lot, I arrived to my 30s without much saved, and that would’ve been a struggle if the next 10 years look the same way. Luckily, I was able to create success to continue down this road!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I perform and teach saxophone flute and clarinet. I specialize in giving a personal touch that comes from listening to the community to truly find what it needs and desires. I’m most proud of keeping my focus on that and being able to provide a service that helps people enjoy, take a break, a release from daily life, to inspire, into witness somebody who really enjoys what they do! I think caring for others in my own unique way is what sets me apart.
How do you define success?
Success is how you affect others, living in the way that you want to be remembered by, being a community worker, like my father, who was a teacher, my mother, who was a nurse, my grandmother, who was a nurse, my grandfather, that was chaplain, my grandfather, who worked in the Steele Mill and help neighbors with plumbing in his free time. If individual success can help create community success, that’s where it is.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: DaveKSax
- Facebook: David Kasper
- Youtube: @davekaspermusic
