Daniel Temkin | Composer

…a sublime performance of Temkin’s
Awakening by harpist Ashley Jackson…
— Gramophone

…sweet and simple, like a memory stream
in an American vernacular…
— Philadelphia Inquirer

…Temkin’s music is authentic, absorbing,
alluring, and particularly exquisite…
— Textura

…Temkin’s orchestration blooms in radiant layers…
— Sequenza 21

…demonstrates an allure too
difficult to convey in words…
— The Houston Chronicle

…filled with dedicate shimmerings
and a certain charm…
— New Zealand Herald

…masterful in construction
and sincere in expression…
— Fanfare

…a magnificent paean to the
vitality of contemporary music…
— Broadway World

FEATURED ON

MUSIC

Ryan McCullough, piano

PRISM Quartet

Emi Ferguson, flute & Ashley Jackson, harp

Ayane Kozasa, viola

Francisco Fullana, violin soloist
Ryan McAdams, conductor & Maksimal Ensemble

Aizuri Quartet

ARTISTIC FOCUS

ARTIST SNAPSHOT:

Daniel is an award-winning American composer commissioned and performed by major classical artists and ensembles worldwide. Writing for orchestras, chamber groups, singers, and interarts collaborations, Daniel’s music is deeply authentic, moving listeners with its visceral intensity and subtle beauty.

Influenced by formative training in percussion and philosophy, Daniel explores the relationship between notation, performance, and interpretation, with pieces centering humanistic themes of nature, connection, empathy, and listening experience (phenomenology).

A passionate educator, Daniel has been a faculty member of several universities and festivals, and a guest lecturer at over 25 global institutions. He serves the new music community as a curator, performer, awards panelist, and author.

WEBSITE:

About🎵 Biography, Photos, Selected Essays
Listen‍ ‍🎵 Videos & Interviews
Catalog🎵Music Orders & Searchable Catalog

PORTRAIT ALBUMS

Learn more about MAKSIMAL (CLICK)

ABOUT

Maksimal is shaped by vivid physical images and a search for forces that connect place, experience, & memory.

Recorded across Houston and New York, by Grammy-winning producer Brad Sayles and Grammy-nominated producer Ryan Streber, the album is an immersive portrait of Temkin’s work performed by an all-star cast, including violinist Francisco Fullana, conductor Ryan McAdams, pianist Ryan McCullough, and Aizuri Quartet.

REVIEWS

“The album presents three significant works by Temkin.”
- The Violin Channel

“Dreamed Landscapes traces impressionist studies inspired by galaxies, glaciers, and canyon horizons.…focus[ing] on colour, resonance, and the inner sensation of inhabiting these spaces.”
- Gramophone

“Distinguished by the finesse and maturity of his writing...[Temkin] creates material of integrity and substance…perpetuating the richness of melody and elegance of form that marked COLORS.”
- Textura

“Temkin’s orchestration blooms in radiant layers…[He] treats music as celestial mapmaking, drawing places where the horizon turns out to be an instrument played from both sides.”
- Sequenza 21

ARTISTS

Ryan McAdams

Francisco Fullana

Maksimal Ensemble

Ryan MacEvoy McCullough

Aizuri Quartet

Learn more about COLORS (CLICK)

ABOUT

COLORS is an intimate album of solos, duos, and trios, with each work played by different artists. The music asks for nuance and shape, melding each player’s interpretive voice with Temkin’s.

Recorded in New York by Grammy-nominated producer Ryan Streber, the album’s all-star international cast includes: Alexi Kenney, Ayane Kozasa, Francisco Fullana, Emi Ferguson, Ashley Jackson, Christine Lamprea, Qing Jiang, Ariana Kim, Daniel Anastasio, and Stas Chernyshev.

REVIEWS

“A sublime performance of Temkin’s ‘Awakening’ by harpist Ashley Jackson .”
- Gramophone

“A magnificent paean to the vitality of contemporary music.”
- Broadway World

“Temkin’s music is authentic, absorbing, alluring, and particularly exquisite.”
- Textura

“There’s no escaping the pull of Daniel Temkin’s ethereal, spirited piece ‘Time Capsule.’ Its appeal immediate, the music plays and seeks, rushes joyfully ahead and laughs softly. But mostly, it remembers. Fullana’s and Kenney’s magnetic, sensitive ensemble playing underscores the piece’s poignancy. ‘Time Capsule is wistful rather than sentimental—a cool glass of lemonade on the loveliest summer’s day you can recall.”
- Strings