Bio.
Daniel has quickly become a guitarist in great demand. His skills and musical attributes, which are rarely found in a musician of his background, have helped him define his own distinct sound and calibre. His musical creativity has seen him play an integral role in many projects, spanning a wide range of musical styles, which regularly perform throughout the UK and internationally.
Working as a session musician within the pop and gospel music industries, Daniel is also a founding member in a number of contemporary jazz projects for which he also writes and arranges. These include Glowrogues and the Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley Group who recently released a new studio album featuring world renowned jazz saxophonist, Chris Potter. Daniel performs his own original music predominantly with his trio Apes Grapes.
Invited to perform as a guest musician with Distractfold, during their Harvard University ensemble residency in 2016, Daniel has since joined as the ensembles full-time guitarist and producer. Specialising in modern instrumental and electro-acoustic music, Distractfold is the first UK ensemble to win the Kranichstein Prize at the 47th International Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt. In 2017 they curated and co-produced the 2017 Cut and Splice Festival in collaboration with Sound and Music, BBC Radio 3 and with the support of the Arts Council England.
Daniel is profoundly grateful for the teaching and guidance of both Mauricio Pauly and Rodrigo Constanzo during his time at the RNCM. Alongside his formal studies Daniel also took 1-1 lessons with internationally recognised jazz guitarist and educator, Mike Walker, from whom he continues to draw much of his influence and inspiration as a player. Soon after graduating, he received a place to study with Yaron Deutsch at the 2015 Impuls Academy for Contemporary Music in Graz, Austria. Daniel is currently a PhD candidate at the Open University funded by the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership.
Daniel has performed with orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and the Manchester Camerata. As a session musician he has performed alongside Donnie McClurkin, Jekalyn Carr, Lisa Stansfield, Peter Hook, Rowetta Satchell, Bez, Eliot Kennedy, Cleo Higgins, Haçienda Classiçal, Terri Walker, Janine Dyer, Janet Devlin, Navi, Twelve24 - Social Beingz, Beats and Pieces Big Band, Iyanya, Olamide, BBC Songs of Praise, Wayne Ellington, Alex Buchanan, Sinach, Chevelle Franklin, Tope Alabi, J. F. July, AMC Gospel Choir, Johnathan Ansell, The Rainband, JJ Rosa, Fourth Man, Akin Music. He has also supported artists including Eric Benét during his 2019 UK tour, Tod Dulaney at the Manchester Arena in 2019, Lalah Hathaway at The Wardrobe Leeds in 2018, Lecrae at the Kouvola Ice Hall, Finland, 2015, Simple Minds on the Italian leg of the Greatest Hits Tour in 2014, as well as Reef, and the Kaiser Chiefs in 2013.
Residencies | Masterclasses.
Ensemble in Residence Stanford University | October 2024
Ensemble in Residence Stanford University | February 2023
Ensemble in Residence Future Music 4 RNCM | 2021 - 2022
Ensemble in Residence Manchester University | 2021
Virtual Ensemble in Residence Columbia University | September 2021
Ensemble in Residence (in collaboration with 4 other artists) Simon Fraser University CA | September 2020 - April 2021
Virtual Ensemble in Residence Manchester University | 2020
Royaumont Abbey | France 2019
Ensemble In Residence Harvard University | April 2018
Ensemble In Residence Stanford University | March 2017
Ensemble In Residence Harvard University | April 2016
Architectural Association Inter-professional Studio | Collaborating Musician, 2014
Royal Northern College of Music | Composition Masterclass, April 4th 2014
Presentation | Conference.
Forthcoming
Electricity and Acousticity: Reconciliation and Optimism in the work of Bjørn Fongaard (1919-1980) | Borders and Boundaries — 2025 OOC DTP AHRC International Conference. Oxford University. September 2025.
The Electric Guitar in 20th Century Western Art Music | The Rise of the Guitar Concerto and the Orchestral Guitar in the Twentieth Century Symposium. Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.
Past
The Guitar and Bjorn Fongaard (1919-1980) | Research in Progress. The Open University. February 2025.
The Electric Guitar in 20th Century Art Music | Constellations – 2024 OOC DTP AHRC International Conference. Cambridge University. September 2024
Conversing with the Vernacular: The Electric Guitar in Western Art Music | The Open University. May 2023
Academic Qualifications.
Currently a PhD candidate at the Open University having received the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership | 2022 - date
Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) | 1st Class Master of Music In Performance (MMus) | 2016 - 2017
RNCM - 1st Class BA (Hons) | 2013 - 2014
RNCM - Foundation Degree | 2009 - 2011
Trafford College - 2x Level 3 Diplomas | 2007 - 2009
Honoraries | Awards.
Admitted an Associate of the Royal Northern College of Music | December 2022
Help Musicians UK Postgraduate award | 2017
Winner of the Roland Scholarship Prize | 2014
