News & Events
HOW TO TELL A WOLF FROM A DOG
Baritone Ryan Wolff will be performing my “How to Tell a Wolf from a Dog” as part of Duluth’s Matinee Musicale series. The concert takes place at 3 p.m., Sunday, January 24th, at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Duluth. Tickets available here.
BLOOD MOON RAG
At 2 p.m., Sunday, February 28th, at the Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, Wisconsin, the Guanchez-Nikiforov piano duo will be performing my Blood Moon Rag for piano four-hands. Click here for more information.
NURSERY RHYMES
I have been commissioned by Alyssa Anderson and Michael Thomas Asmus to set a collection of nursery rhymes for mezzo-soprano, harpsichord, and viola da gamba. This work will be premiering in summer of 2027.
IN PROGRESS…
…a new work for string quartet, inspired by music of Walt Mink.
…my first work for full orchestra, inspired by Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum–a mysterious concrete structure sticking out of Lake Superior, 30 feet from the shoreline of Canal Park in Duluth, Minnesota.
"Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise.
When we ignore it, it disturbs us.
When we listen to it, we find it fascinating.”
JOHN CAGE
BIOGRAPHY
Daniel Nass creates music that invites listeners into unfamiliar worlds, where playfulness, curiosity, beauty, and the unexpected are never far apart. His musical ideas often begin with something that catches his attention: a compelling sound, an intriguing story, an unusual place, or a connection between things that don't seem to belong together. From there, he follows the idea wherever it leads. He uses music to create vivid landscapes, evoke characters and places, and allow the listener's imagination to take the music somewhere of its own.
A native of Howard Lake, Minnesota, Nass grew up listening to the rock music of his older siblings and spending his teenage years in garage bands before discovering contemporary concert music. That eclectic background continues to shape his work. He is drawn to the places where seemingly unrelated things meet—concert music and popular culture, humor and seriousness, nature and theater, the familiar and the strange. Sometimes the result is playful or absurd; sometimes warm or tender; sometimes unsettling. He is less interested in keeping these influences separate than in discovering what happens when they meet.
Nass’s music has been commissioned and performed by organizations including the Schubert Club, Hub New Music, Zeitgeist, and the FRIENDS of the Minnesota Orchestra. His work spans concert music, opera, electroacoustic music, as well as collaborations in film, dance, and theater. Across these forms, he is interested in music as a way of creating worlds—whether beginning with a story, a sound, or an idea that refuses to leave him alone.
Nass holds degrees from Saint Olaf College, the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music, and the University of Texas at Austin. He lives in Minneapolis, where he also works as a Senior Producer at YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am fascinated by the way music can help us see things in a different light. Often, my compositions begin with something that catches my attention and refuses to let go: a strange story, an unusual sound, a place I find mysterious, or a connection between things that don't seem to belong together. I follow those ideas into music, using sound to create worlds, suggest characters and stories, and invite listeners to imagine.
My own musical imagination developed out of a fairly eclectic childhood. I grew up in a rural Minnesota community listening to the rock and popular music of my older siblings, while also establishing a deep connection to the natural world. Singing in choirs throughout high school and college became another formative part of my musical life. As my musical world expanded, so did my curiosity. Indian raga, Bartók, German polka, Pink Floyd, musical theater, and the sounds of the natural world have all found their way into my work. I am less interested in keeping these influences separate than in discovering what happens when they collide.
Storytelling is also at the heart of my collaborative partnerships. Whether I am writing for an ensemble, singer, theater production, or other medium, I am interested in the possibilities that emerge when musicians and other artists bring their perspectives into the process. My catalog ranges from chamber music to opera and musical theater, but the common thread is a desire to create music that resonates with listeners.
I am now interested in expanding that world through larger-scale works. I have begun my first piece for full orchestra, inspired by an enigmatic concrete structure protruding from Lake Superior near Duluth, known as “Uncle Harvey's Mausoleum”—a mystery that has fascinated me since I was a child. I am also writing a song cycle based on nursery rhymes for mezzo-soprano, harpsichord, and gamba, and a string quartet inspired by a Twin Cities rock trio whose music profoundly influenced me as a young musician. These projects reflect the way I continue to work: I find something that catches my attention, and then I follow it somewhere unexpected.