News & Events

Moonlit walk home

Recently wrapped up a month-long run of “Moonlit Walk Home” – a new operatic music-theater piece adapted from the poetry of Fern Green Baldwin. The Nautilus Music-Theater show starred Jennifer Baldwin Peden and Christina Baldwin (daughters of Fern Green Baldwin). Thanks to everyone who came out to see it, and huge thanks to the amazing cast and crew who made it possible!

ANIMAL SONGS

In 2021, I was commissioned to compose a set of songs for mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski, using texts by Duluth poet Louis Jenkins. The songs were finished in early 2022, and will be premiered February 23, 2023, at the Landmark Center in St. Paul, MN.

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MÚSICA PARA EL PEZ VELA

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On the horizon…

… a new song about a wombat, written for soprano Liz Pearse.

… a cello quartet, inspired by the music of John Kimbrough and Walt Mink.

… a set of Voyageur Songs for mezzo-soprano Alyssa Anderson.

… Spitting Image Collective is finalizing details regarding a 2023 collaboration with Unheard-of//Ensemble. Stay tuned for details!

Biography

The music of Daniel Nass 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 60s, 70s, and 80s, which led to teenage years spent performing in various loud 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 set lyrics composed by original Pink Floyd singer/songwriter, Syd Barrett.

A member of ASCAP and the 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 One-Dog Canoe (Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra), Katla the Hag and Her Magic Britches and Shadows of Shadow Passing (Zeitgeist), …And the Sound is Thunder (Seen/Heard Trio), and Songs of Cowboys and Hobos (the dream songs project). His works are distributed through his self-publishing company, Daniel Nass Music, and professional recordings are available on the Innova, Crescent Phase, and Avid Sound Records labels.

Nass is particularly passionate about forging successful musical collaborations with artists in the area of mixed media. In dance, he has 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 has 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. In the world of theater, Nass has been working with the Augsburg College Theater Department, composing incidental music for their productions of “Marat/Sade,” “The Crucible,” and “The Taming of the Shrew.” Current theater projects include a new work for Christina and Jennifer Baldwin and Nautilus Music Theater, as well as serving as music director for “Ghost Sonata” – a Knight Foundation-funded collaboration between Sod House Theater and Black Label Movement.

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 Lowertown St. Paul, and serves as a producer for American Public Media on various specials and shows, including Pipedreams, SymphonyCast, and Composers Datebook. In addition, he is a Composer Member of Spitting Image Collective – a composer collective that brings together composers, listeners, and performers to strengthen the Twin Cities new music community.  

Artist Statement

I am a composer whose work is grounded in nostalgia, reflection, and my experience and appreciation of the natural world. I write music because I can express myself through music in a way that I can't express myself through words. Because music has always been my primary means of connecting with other people, I especially enjoy and thrive in collaborative settings. 

As a child growing up in rural Minnesota, I was primarily exposed to rock music. My compositional philosophy is heavily influenced by these early experiences and has manifested itself in direct and indirect ways. Sometimes it means a direct quote from Pink Floyd, sometimes it means a propulsive, rhythmic component to a piece for chamber ensemble. As my musical world expanded, so did my influences. From Indian raga to Bartók to German polka music, I have absorbed and internalized a wide variety of listening experiences. I write music because I love to listen to it. 

I embrace personal connections in my work. Certain pieces are rooted in childhood memories. Singing choral music in both high school and college was formative in both my personal and musical development. Collaborative work holds meaning in the relationships I forge during the process and in the shared experience of creating something together. The majority of my work thus far has been successful collaboration with small ensembles. I am eager to expand the scope of my work to write for larger ensembles in ways that will connect with new audiences and communities.