Dexter Stanley-Tauvao is a Sāmoan jazz drummer, composer and educator currently based in New York, USA. Born in Wellington, New Zealand. He studied at the New Zealand School of Music and graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz with First Class Honours. His musical career has taken him to Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, the USA and Germany, and he has performed alongside jazz icons such as Alex Sipiagin, Antonio Hart, Rufus Reid and Scott Wendtholt. While he is most passionate about big band and straight-ahead jazz, (Alex Sipiagin, Roberto Manzin, Umar Zakaria, New Zealand Youth Jazz Orchestra, Lauren Nottingham) he also loves Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, funk, indie-pop and folk music. In 2022, Mr. Stanley-Tauvao won a Fulbright General Graduate Award, giving him the opportunity to pursue a Master of Music in New York City. He is currently studying with Dennis Mackrel (Count Basie, WDR Big Band, Danish Radio Big Band), Antonio Hart (Roy Hargrove, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Holland Big Band) and Michael Mossman (Dizzy Gillespie, Slide Hampton, Horace Silver), and plans to perform and teach in New York, Berlin and New Zealand over the next few years. Mr. Stanley-Tauvao is a recent addition to the roster of the Grammy Award-winning Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, led by Arturo O’Farrill. As well as a lover of performance and composition, Mr. Stanley-Tauvao is a passionate educator, who finds joy in teaching and helping students to discover their talents and possibilities in music. He considers himself very fortunate to have a career in which he plays with and inspires musicians around the world, and is always ready to learn, share and continue his musical journey wherever it takes him next! Mr. Stanley-Tauvao plays Bosphorus cymbals, Meinl sticks and RegalTip brushes.