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

(1996) * ''Oboe Quintet'' by

(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

(2001) * ''Two's Company'' by

(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

(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 *

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 {{woodwind-musician-stub