Marlon Daniel is an American composer, conductor, and music director. He is known for being a specialist in the music of Chevalier de Saint-Georges.[1] Daniel was the winner of the 2009 John and Mary Virginia Foncannon Conducting Award, and a prizewinner at the 2018 Bucharest Symphony Orchestra International Conducting Competition.[2]
Born in Chicago, Illinois, his family is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, and Atlanta, Georgia, and he is of African American, French and American Indian descent (through maternal grandmother Ruth Chitwood). He received his formative education at St. Ita Grammar School and Lane Technical High School in Chicago. He also studied dance as scholarship student at Boitsov Classical Ballet School and was a member of Najwa Dance Corps. For a brief period he pursued acting as a child and appeared on Sesame Street. He holds two silver medals in competitive jujitsu.
Education
Daniel's talent was first discovered at the age of seven by his father, Michael Daniel, an amateur musician, when he was able without lessons to play his father's pieces on the piano by ear. He received his first piano lessons with Kathryn Gladden, a pupil of Moritz Rosenthal. He continued his elementary music education with Salavatore Spina at the Music Center of the North Shore and the American Conservatory of Music in the Young Artists Program.
Daniel started his musical career as a child prodigy pianist in Chicago, Illinois. Later he worked as a freelance concert artist while studying conducting and piano at Manhattan School of Music. In 1993 he was selected as one of thirteen pianists from around the world to participate in the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival Young Artist Program. He continued to be active as a soloist with orchestra, recitalist and chamber musician in collaboration with noted vocal and instrumental soloists in the United States and Europe.
In 2000, Daniel founded Manhattan Virtuosi and became its music director for the next four years. Increasingly focusing on his conducting career, from 2003 until 2007 he resided predominantly in Europe. During this time he served as associate conductor of the Praga Sinfonietta. After the dissolution of Manhattan Virtuosi, Daniel founded and was music director of the New York-based chamber orchestra Ensemble du Monde in 2004, which brought together virtuoso musicians from around the world, including many former members of Manhattan Virtuosi.[5]
He has also appeared as conductor and music director for several international commercial media ventures that have included the world premiere of a Maybach car at the New York Wall Street Regent Hotel and the world premiere of Nickelodeon Television's Emmy winning Wonder Pets!, "Save the Goldfish" episode live at New York's Javits Center.
Daniel conducting the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba
In addition to Ensemble du Monde, Daniel is the principal conductor of the New Horizons Orchestra of the Festival of African and African American Music (FESAAM), artistic director of the Festival International Saint-Georges in Guadeloupe and principal guest conductor (2012–14) of the Sofia Sinfonietta.[6] He has guest-conducted orchestras in the United States, the Caribbean, Czech Republic, Philippines, Germany, France and Russia.
In 2015 he was the first American conductor invited to Cuba since the American president at the time, Barack Obama, lifted the US embargo of Cuba. He successfully debuted with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba and has continued to perform regularly in Cuba since.[7]
Daniel is a renowned exponent of music by composers of African descent.[3] In 2016 he founded the Festival International de Musique Saint-Georges. He continues to serve as the artistic and music director of the festival, and is recognized internationally as one of the world's foremost interpreters of the music of Chevalier de Saint-Georges.[9] He served as the inaugural music director of the Colour of Music Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, continuing in the capacity for three years.[10]
He is a member of Mu Phi Epsilon International Professional Music Fraternity and co-chairman of the fraternity's International Committee.
Awards
Prizewinner "Special Talent Award" at the 2018 Bucharest Symphony Orchestra, International Conducting Competition[11]
