Nicholas Daniel (born 9 January 1962) is a British
oboist
An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette.
The following is a list of notable past and pres ...
and conductor. In 2003 he was appointed Artistic Director of the
Leicester International Music Festival.
Education
He was educated at
Salisbury Cathedral School
Salisbury Cathedral School is a co-educational independent school in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, which was founded in 1091 by Saint Osmund. The choristers of Salisbury Cathedral are educated at the school.
History
The school was founded i ...
and the
Purcell School
The Purcell School for Young Musicians is a specialist music school for children, located in the town of Bushey, south Hertfordshire, England, and is the oldest specialist music school in the UK. The school was awarded the UNESCO Mozart Medal ...
.
Awards
Daniel won the
BBC Young Musician of the Year
BBC Young Musician is a televised national music competition broadcast biennially on BBC Television and BBC Radio 3. Originally BBC Young Musician of the Year, its name was changed in 2010.
The competition, a former member of the European Uni ...
Competition in 1980 and was awarded the 2011
Queen's Medal for Music
The King's Medal for Music (or the Queen's Medal for Music during the reign of a queen) is an annual award, instituted in 2005, for contribution to the musical life of Great Britain. The Medal may be awarded to people of any nationality. The expe ...
., cited as having made “an outstanding contribution to the musical life of the nation”.
In 2016 his recording of concertos by Vaughan Williams and MacMillan was awarded the BBC Music Magazine Premiere Award.
He was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the
2020 Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...
for services to music.
Teaching posts
Daniel was Professor of Oboe at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...
for ten years, then in 1997 became Professor of Oboe and Conducting at the
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universi ...
School of Music. He then was invited to be Prince Consort Professor of Oboe at the
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...
in London. In 2004, he was named Professor of Oboe at the Musikhochschule in
Trossingen
Trossingen ( Swabian: ''Drossinge'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in a region called Baar, between the Swabian Alb and the Black Forest. Stuttgart is about an hour away, Lake Constance about half an hour, and the s ...
, Germany.
Performing ensembles
Nicholas Daniel is a founding member of the Haffner Wind Ensemble and
Britten Sinfonia, and formed a duo with pianist
Julius Drake
The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the ...
in 1981.
As Principal Oboe of
Britten Sinfonia, Daniel has frequently appeared as a member of the orchestra and also as a soloist/director. In 2009
Britten Sinfonia released its first own label recording, which features Nicholas Daniel in
John Tavener
Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are '' The Lamb'' (1982), ''The Protecting Veil'' (1988), and '' Song ...
's ''Songs of the Sky''.
In September 2021 Daniel was appointed as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor for the Orion Orchestra.
Commissions
Daniel has commissioned and premiered many new works for the oboe, to increase its status as a solo instrument. Such works include:
* ''The Kingdom of Dreams'' by
John Woolrich
John Woolrich ( ; born 1954 in Cirencester) is an English composer.
Biography
Woolrich has founded a group (the Composers Ensemble), a festival (Hoxton New Music Days), and has been composer in association with the Orchestra of St John's and th ...
(1989)
* ''Double Concerto'' by
Simon Bainbridge
Simon Bainbridge (30 August 1952 – 2 April 2021) was a British composer. He was also a professor and head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and visiting professor at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in the United ...
(1990)
* ''An Interrupted Endless Melody'' by
Harrison Birtwistle
Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include '' T ...
(1991)
* ''First Grace of Light'' by
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music.
As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Musi ...
(1991)
* ''Helios'' by
Thea Musgrave
Thea Musgrave CBE (born 27 May 1928) is a Scottish composer of opera and classical music. She has lived in the United States since 1972.
Biography
Born in Barnton, Edinburgh, Musgrave was educated at Moreton Hall School, a boarding independ ...
(1994)
* ''Oboe Concerto'' by
John Woolrich
John Woolrich ( ; born 1954 in Cirencester) is an English composer.
Biography
Woolrich has founded a group (the Composers Ensemble), a festival (Hoxton New Music Days), and has been composer in association with the Orchestra of St John's and th ...
(1996)
* ''Oboe Quintet'' by
John Woolrich
John Woolrich ( ; born 1954 in Cirencester) is an English composer.
Biography
Woolrich has founded a group (the Composers Ensemble), a festival (Hoxton New Music Days), and has been composer in association with the Orchestra of St John's and th ...
(1998)
* ''Oboe Concerto'' by
Nigel Osborne
Nigel Osborne (born 23 June 1948) is a British composer, teacher and aid worker. He served as Reid Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh and has also taught at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover. He is known f ...
(1998)
* ''Three Capriccios'' for solo oboe by
John Woolrich
John Woolrich ( ; born 1954 in Cirencester) is an English composer.
Biography
Woolrich has founded a group (the Composers Ensemble), a festival (Hoxton New Music Days), and has been composer in association with the Orchestra of St John's and th ...
(2001)
* ''Two's Company'' by
Thea Musgrave
Thea Musgrave CBE (born 27 May 1928) is a Scottish composer of opera and classical music. She has lived in the United States since 1972.
Biography
Born in Barnton, Edinburgh, Musgrave was educated at Moreton Hall School, a boarding independ ...
(2005)
* ''The Fabric of Dreams'' by
Michael Zev Gordon
Michael Zev Gordon (born 1963, London) is a British composer of Jewish descent.
A past oboe player, Gordon studied composition at King's College, Cambridge with Robin Holloway, and subsequently with Oliver Knussen and John Woolrich, and in I ...
(2006)
* ''Kaleidoscopes'' by
John Tavener
Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are '' The Lamb'' (1982), ''The Protecting Veil'' (1988), and '' Song ...
(2006)
* ''Sorella'' by
Rory Boyle (2007).
* ''Oboe Concerto'' by
James MacMillan
Sir James Loy MacMillan, (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor.
Early life
MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977. His father is James MacMi ...
(2010).
Recordings
Daniel has recorded many albums, both solo work and chamber music, such as:
*Alwyn oboe concerto
*Alwyn Chamber works
*Alwyn Chamber works vol 2
*Alwyn Orchestral works
*Arnold Orchestral works: Fantasia Conifer
*Berkeley oboe concerto
*Bliss Chamber works
*Finzi Orchestral works: Eclogue
*Finzi, Howells, Patterson works for oboe & piano
*Horovitz oboe concerto
*
Elena Langer
Elena Langer (born 1974 in Moscow) is a Russian-born British composer of opera and other contemporary classical music. Her work has been performed at the Royal Opera House, Zurich Opera, Carnegie Hall, Richard B. Fisher Center for the Perform ...
Landscape With Three People
*
Martinu Sinfonia Concertante
*
Moeran Fantasy Quartet
*
Mozart Sinfonia Concertante in E flat
*
Mozart Wind Concertos
*
Mozart Chamber works
*
Thea Musgrave
Thea Musgrave CBE (born 27 May 1928) is a Scottish composer of opera and classical music. She has lived in the United States since 1972.
Biography
Born in Barnton, Edinburgh, Musgrave was educated at Moreton Hall School, a boarding independ ...
Helios; Memento Vitae
*Strauss Sinfonia no 2; oboe concerto
*Woolrich The Ghost in the Machine
*French Chamber Music for Woodwinds
*French Oboe Sonatas
*Five Italian Oboe Concertos
*Oboe Alone
*Oboe Sonatas with Julius Drake
*Vaughan Williams and MacMillan oboe concertos
References
External links
Official site
1962 births
Living people
Academics of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
British classical oboists
Male oboists
British male conductors (music)
Jacobs School of Music faculty
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Place of birth missing (living people)
People educated at Salisbury Cathedral School
People educated at Purcell School
English LGBT musicians
21st-century British conductors (music)
21st-century British male musicians
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