Nickname: "Kwanzaa"
Email: dsk2@acpub.duke.edu
Homepage: http://www.duke.edu/~dsk2
Birthdate: 9/1/76
Birthplace: Santa Monica, CA
High School: Agoura High School, 1994
College: Duke University, 1998 (projected graduation date)
-Major: Music
-Minor: Political Science
Interests: Duke basketball, Duke football, Duke recruiting, Coach Krzyzewski Fan Club, Lakers, Dodgers, Carolina Panthers (FFL), Taco Bell
Favorite Groups: Pearl Jam, Take 6, Sublime, Free Flight, Berlin Philharmonic, The Dogg Pound, Mingus Orchestra
Favorite Composers: Bach, Mahler, Dvorak, Ibert, Mozart
Favorite Musicians: Jean-Pierre Rampal, Jim Walker, Cannonball Adderly, Sonny Stitt, Kenny Garrett, Greg Osby, Tupac Shakur, Antonio Hart
Experience and Background: Desiring to break Oriental stereotypes, Derek brutally dismantled and burned the violin that was given to him ten years ago. His parents then bought him a flute, knowing that the temperatures in the barbecue where he burned the violin could not reach the intense level of heat required to melt the metallic flute. Close to three years later, and due to the vicious badgering he suffered through for playing such a "feminine" and "Zamfir-eque" instrument, Derek started playing the saxophone to create a more masculine, sexy, and macho image for himself.
Derek began playing saxophone for Hoobustank in the summer of 1996. Before this, he served as principal flutist of both the California All-State Honor Band and Orchestra. He was also a winner of the 1994 Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Awards in the area of Jazz Instrumental. In 1995, Derek was named a winner of the Yamaha International Young Performing Artists Competition, and was awarded a fellowship to the Aspen Music Festival. In July, 1997, he participated in the Lake Placid International Music Festival with Julius Baker, Jeanne Baxtresser, and Jim Walker, among others. Derek hopes to be playing music for the rest of his life in one way or another, and if music doesn't work out, there's always business school.
