From 1972 to 1976 he studied composition and politics at Union College in New York, then attended the New England Conservatory of Music and Wesleyan University.
[3][4] Debriano has led several of his own units, including small groups in the late 1980s and Circlechant, a world music-influenced ensemble which has had among its members Helio Alves, Will Calhoun, and Abraham Burton.
[2] As a sideman and bandmember, he has worked with Larry Coryell, Sonny Fortune, Hank Jones, Don Pullen, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, Chucho Valdes, and Randy Weston.
[8][9] With the Garth Fagan and Don Pullen, he participated in the realization the dance piece Sacred Common Ground in 1995.
[11] Debriano was also the music director for arts at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, New Jersey, and was given an award for jazz education by New York University in 2001.