Meet Cortez Daniel of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cortez Daniel.

Hi Cortez, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been performing since I was 7 years old, and music has shaped nearly every chapter of my life since. That journey took me from singing to piano and composition. I earned my degree in Music Education and started teaching, directing, composing, and performing across the country straight out of college.

Along the way, I co-founded Tones Collective, which has grown from just a few musicians making music together into a community centered around performance, education, collaboration, and creating opportunities for others.

My path hasn’t been straight. I’ve moved across states, changed careers, taken risks, started over, and stepped into plenty of situations without knowing exactly how they would turn out. Through all of it, I’ve tried to lead with determination and relentless positivity.

Today, I’m continuing to build a life around music, education, performance, and community. I don’t know where I’ll end up but I know that each day I’m taking more steps to being the person and musician I’ve always wanted to be.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. After graduating college in Indianola, Iowa, I taught in Sigourney and spent time around Iowa City, but eventually realized I wasn’t building the life I wanted. So I took a chance and moved to Colorado.

That’s where Tones Collective began. We were originally just three musicians trying to create opportunities and prove we belonged in the rooms we wanted to enter. Just as we began finding success in Evergreen and Aurora, life changed again. My wife and I decided to start a family and be closer to our own families in the South. So we moved to Georgia and essentially started over.

Rebuilding was difficult. I took odd jobs, accompanied choirs, performed on weekends, taught elementary music, led workshops, and pursued almost every opportunity I could find to support my family while continuing to build a career in music. Eventually, those efforts opened doors to partnerships with school systems, community programs, and professional musicians.

If there’s one thing the journey has taught me, it’s that sometimes you have to create the opportunity you’re waiting for. The road hasn’t been easy or predictable, but every restart has made me more determined, resourceful, and committed to building the life and work I believe in.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work is a mixture of music education, performance, composition and community.

Most recently, I served as a K–5 music teacher at Stroud Elementary School in Athens, Georgia, and I continue to serve as Music Director at Congregation Children of Israel. I also teach private piano and voice lessons, perform professionally, accompany musicians, and lead workshops for choirs, teachers, and other arts organizations.

One of the things I’m most proud of is our annual Road to Colorado, where we spend several weeks working with children and teenagers in Evergreen to produce full musicals in as little as a weeks time. It’s an incredible exercise in creativity, collaboration, and showing young performers how much they’re capable of accomplishing.

What I believe sets me apart is the energy I bring into educational spaces. Whether I’m teaching one student, directing a musical, or working with an entire choir; I want people to leave feeling more capable and excited about music than when they arrived. Students and families consistently tell me that my positivity makes learning fun and makes them want to come back. That means a lot to me because I believe great music education should challenge people without taking away the joy that made them love music in the first place.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
There are a lot of ways to work with and support what we’re building. Through Tones Collective, I’m available as an accompanist, composer for commissioned works, performer, workshop facilitator, and private teacher. I currently offer online and in-person lessons in piano, voice, theatre, and composition, and our growing team includes instructors across several instruments.

I’m also always looking to collaborate with artists, educators, businesses, and organizations that believe, like I do, that the arts can bring people together. One of our next goals is creating more of our own community events: including opportunities for adults to experience the same creativity, silliness, and connection we see every summer in our youth drama camps.

As Tones grows, we’re especially interested in connecting with people experienced in grant writing, fundraising, sponsorships, and arts funding. We’ve self-invested in this dream for years, and we’re ready to learn how to build something sustainable enough to create even more opportunities for our teachers, artists, and communities.

Sometimes support is as simple as following Tones Collective on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube and sharing our work with someone who might need what we offer. Every introduction, collaboration, student, and share helps us build the next chapter.

You can reach us at TonesCollective@gmail.com.

Pricing:

• Online Music Lessons: $50 for 30 minutes
• Online Music Lessons: $90 for 1 hour
• Original Compositions: $200-$500 (Priced based on your request)
• Workshops for teachers and students: $500 plus travel

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Tonescollective.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonescollectivellc?igsi=MW12MmZrMXphajZqbg==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BAutv6sga/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@tonescollective?si=Mkvos6Ee2wuWL9wn
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@tonescollective?_r=1&_t=ZT-99Qm1vpCilC