Dan Ponce is the founder and first music director of Straight No Chaser. Before SNC reunited, he was a reporter for ABC News in Chicago. Dan's brother Anthony is a reporter for NBC in Chicago, and his father Phil is the host of 'Chicago Tonight' on WTTW (PBS). Dan grew up in Wilmette, IL, a north suburb of the Windy City. He attended Indiana University for undergraduate degrees in music and journalism. He founded Straight No Chaser in 1996 - Dan's sophomore year. After graduating from IU, he spent four years living in Atlanta writing songs and performing with other original members of SNC. During that time he taught private piano, violin and voice lessons. In 2004, Dan decided to go back to school, and earned his master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Northwestern University. Dan lives in Chicago.
Voice Part:
Baritone
Birth Name
Daniel Felipe Ponce
Currently Living In
Chicago
Relationship Status
In a relationship
Trademark
can whistle a melody and hum the harmony at the same time
Hobbies
piano, running, weight lifting, reading
Favorite SNC College Memory
Walking off the stage after the debut of "Dry Campus" - the comical song I wrote about Indiana University's no-alcohol policy
Musical Influences
Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Gershwin, Bach, Vivaldi, Robert Shaw, Daniel Barenboim, Sir George Solti
Favorite Songs to Perform Live
Straight No Chaser (the group's original theme song)
Favorite Place You've Traveled
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Favorite Things in General
Indiana University Basketball, Chicago White Sox Baseball, performing live in a great auditorium, tropical fish, trying new restaurants in Chicago
What Magazines/Periodicals do you read consistently?
Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Magazine, Time Out Chicago - can you tell I live in Chicago?
Name Your Top 5 Favorite Foods
Mom's Chicken Pot Pie, Mama Maxi's tortillas, Mad Mushroom Cheesesticks,
Lasagna, Black Raspberries
Name Your Top 5 Favorite Books
A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe, Blindness by Jose Saramago, The World According to Garp by John Irving, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
Name Your Top 5 Favorite Movies
Hoosiers, The Shawshank Redemption, The Hunt for Red October, Sideways, Glory
Name Your Top 5 Favorite Bands/Artists
Sting, Seal, Billy Joel, Elton John, Boyz II Men
Name Your Top 5 Favorite Songs
“Every Breath You Take” (The Police), “Kiss from a Rose” (Seal), “I’d Die Without You” (PM Dawn) “Maria” (from Westside Story), “Ave Maria” (Franz Biebl)