The music of Daniel Nass (b. 1975) has been reviewed as “playful,” “eerie,” and “witty.”  Much of his music is influenced, both consciously and subconsciously, by popular musics of the past half-century.  Thanks to older siblings, his childhood was dominated by the rock music of the 70’s and 80’s (most prominently, Kiss), which led to teenage years spent performing in various garage bands.  “Quatre études de fromage,” a recent set of his piano pieces, was heavily inspired by the music from “Sailing the Seas of Cheese,” an album by progressive rock-trio, Primus.  For his doctoral dissertation, he composed “Scattered Needles,” a large-scale work for tenor and chamber orchestra in which he reset lyrics composed by original Pink Floyd singer/songwriter, Syd Barrett.

A member of ASCAP, SCI, SEAMUS, and American Composers Forum, Nass has received various awards and recognitions, including ASCAP awards, as well as invitations to SEAMUS and SCI national conferences, the Seoul International Computer Music Festival, the International Computer Music Conference in Singapore, and the SPARK Festival in Minneapolis.  He has been awarded prizes in the ISU Carillon Composition Competition, the UMKC Chamber Music Composition Competition, and was one of three composers awarded a commission to write a new choral work for the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus. Other recent commissions include “Five Preludes for Guitar” (Jonathan Dotson, guitarist) and “Dance Preludes” (Matthew McCright, piano).  His works are distributed through his self-publishing company, Daniel Nass Music, and professional recordings are available on the Innova Records and Centaur Records labels. 

Nass is particularly passionate about forging successful musical collaborations with artists in the area of mixed media.  In dance, he worked with choreographer David DeBlieck and the Wicked Sister Dance Theatre to produce “Eternal,” a work for dance ensemble and electroacoustic music, using sounds recorded at the Quarry Park and Nature Preserve in central Minnesota as source material.  In film, he collaborated with multimedia artist Samantha Krukowski to produce the short video “Salt and Glue,” which has been aired in prestigious festivals and galleries across the United States and Asia.  Most recently, in theatre, Nass has been working with the Augsburg College Theater Department, composing incidental music for their productions of “The Visit,” “Top Girls,” and “The Taming of the Shrew.”

A native of Howard Lake, Minnesota, Nass holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music Theory and Composition from Saint Olaf College, a Master of Music in Composition from the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Composition from the University of Texas at Austin.  Past teachers include Kevin Puts, Donald Grantham, James Mobberley, Chen Yi, and Peter Hamlin.
 
Daniel is currently a proud resident of Nordeast Minneapolis.  He maintains an active client list of composers for his music engraving business and works on America’s most popular classical music radio program, APM’s Performance Today.

The music of Daniel Nass (b. 1975) has been reviewed as “playful,” “eerie,” and “witty.”  He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including ASCAP awards, as well as invitations to SEAMUS and SCI national conferences, the Seoul International Computer Music Festival, and the International Computer Music Conference in Singapore.  He has been awarded prizes in the ISU Carillon Composition Competition, the UMKC Chamber Music Composition Competition, and was one of three composers awarded a commission to write a new choral work for the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus. Other recent commissions include guitarist Jonathan Dotson and pianist Matthew McCright. 

A native of Howard Lake, Minnesota, Nass holds degrees from Saint Olaf College, the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music, and the University of Texas at Austin.  Past teachers include Kevin Puts, Donald Grantham, James Mobberley, Chen Yi, and Peter Hamlin.  His works are distributed through his self-publishing company, Daniel Nass Music, and professional recordings are available on the Innova Records and Centaur Records labels.  

For more information, please visit www.danielnassmusic.com.