Darren Lael

A native of Hickory, Darren Lael (Army-Ret) has collaborated in various settings including classical, theatre, church musician as well as ballet pianist. As a member of the United States Army Field Band & Soldiers’ Chorus, he toured and performed extensively across the United States. Special holiday concerts included partnering with ensembles such as the Detroit Symphony and the Cleveland and Boston Pops. With the Field Band, he was soloist on works by Gershwin and Shostakovich and participated in the recording projects The Legacy of Leonard Bernstein, The Legacy of George Gershwin,  The Legacy of Gilbert & Sullivan, and The Soundtrack of the American Soldier (Grammy-Immersive Sound), which was recorded at Skywalker Sound in California. Darren received degrees from the North Carolina School of the Arts and the University of Maryland, in addition to collaborative studies at the University of Colorado. Solo appearances have been with the orchestras of NCSA (Bartok Concerto #2), Raleigh, Gardner-Webb University, and Grand Valley State University. He has also studied and performed at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France and as part of the Tibor Varga Festival at the Académie de Musique in Sion, Switzerland. Along with community and regional theatre productions, Darren toured across North America as keyboardist/conductor with productions of Grease!, Smokey Joe’s Café, Godspell, and The Full Monty.