is a Sāmoan drummer, composer and educator based between Berlin, Germany and New York City, USA. Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Dexter graduated from the New Zealand School of Music with a Bachelor's Degree in Jazz with First Class Honours.

 

After three years as a freelance musician in Germany, Dexter won a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, enabling him to earn a Master’s Degree (Summa Cum Laude) in Jazz Studies at the Aaron Copland School of Music, New York City, USA. Dexter performed across the country, including debuts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Geffen Hall, and the Louis Armstrong House Museum, where he premiered the world’s first Asia-Pacific Jazz Orchestra. In 2022, he won an audition and became a member of the GRAMMY-Award winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, led by Arturo O’Farrill. 

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His career has taken him to Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Sāmoa, the USA, Poland, and Germany, and Dexter has performed alongside jazz icons such as Antonio Hart, George Coleman, Rufus Reid and Alex Sipiagin. While he is most passionate about big band and straight-ahead jazz, he also loves Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, country and folk music.

 

Dexter continues to lead the Asia-Pacific Jazz Orchestra, a jazz orchestra for Asian and Pacific Island musicians to play and compose for. He also serves as musical director for Fat’n’Fancy, an ensemble he co-leads with his wife, Bridget Kinneary, that aims to integrate elements of jazz and classical music pedagogically, musically and socially. Their first show in Berlin, April 2025, was a well-received sold-out performance at the Brotfabrik, with their next major performance in January 2026 at the B-Flat Berlin.

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As an educator, Dexter has taught privately and for music academies across New Zealand, Macau, Germany and the USA, teaching at all levels and ages. 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!

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While he is most passionate about big band and straight-ahead jazz, (Antonio Hart, Roberto Manzin, Umar Zakaria, New Zealand Youth Jazz Orchestra, Lauren Nottingham) he also loves Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, funk, indie-pop and folk music. Dexter’s willingness to learn has led to engagements with a wide range of musical ensembles, including:

 

• Opeloge Ah Sam Quintet, playing contemporary Polynesian jazz based on Sāsā, Siva and funk-fusion

• Umar Zakaria Quartet, playing standards, arrangements, and Malay-inspired jazz originals 

• Bohemian Thought, playing Fela Kuti-inspired Afrobeat with spoken word poetry

• Garáge Latino and C-26, Colómbian/Perúvian bands playing cumbia, salsa, merengue and guáguanco

• Idhayam, an Indian-Jazz Fusion band playing Carnatic music based on Indian Konnakol and Raga

• Mark Eden, an Australian alternative rock trio who had tours across Europe and performances with the BBC (England) planned until the Covid-19 pandemic

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As well as a lover of performance and composition,

Dexter is a passionate educator, who finds joy in teaching and helping students to discover their talents and possibilities in music. He has coached jazz ensembles as a guest artist, directed choirs and taught private drum lessons in:

 

• New Zealand: El Sistema Whangarei, Kaitaia College, Rātā School of Music, Opononi Music Camp

• Asia: The University of Macau

• Europe: Berlin Cosmopolitan School, Home Music Teachers Germany, and

• USA: American Samoa Community College, Queens College Teaching Artist

 

Dexter plays Bosphorus cymbals.