Dan Pugach is a 3X GRAMMY® nominated drummer and composer, a three-time recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Jazz Composer Award, a winner of the BMI Charlie Parker Composition Prize, and a Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Residency Program participant at the Kennedy Center. His latest big band album, Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence, comprised of all original compositions, and featuring Nicole Zuraitis, is nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, as well as a Best Jazz Performance nomination for “Little Fears,” a song from the same album. Dan’s nonet album, Plus One includes Dan’s arrangement of Jolene (Dolly Parton), which was nominated for a GRAMMY® Award (Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals) alongside vocalist Nicole Zuraitis. He was the featured drummer on the 2024 GRAMMY® Award winning album How Love Begins, co-produced by Nicole Zuraitis and Christian McBride.

Dan is the leader of The Dan Pugach Nonet and the Dan Pugach Big Band, playing his original music and arrangements. The Nonet and Big Band tour regularly, and have played at Bird’s Eye Basel, The Zone in Tel Aviv, The Blue Note, Birdland Jazz Club, The 55bar, Smalls Jazz Club, The Jazz Loft, The Jazz Estate, Stowe Jazz Festival, and esteemed Performing Arts Centers across the country.

Dan received a Bachelor of Music Degree from Berklee College of Music, where he studied with Terri Lynn Carrington, Hal Crook, and Joe Lovano, and an M.A in music from the City College of New York, where he studied with Mike Holober and Scott Reeves.