Global Music Awards silver medalist
Daniel Burwasser is an American composer, percussionist and teacher who was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Temple University, and then went on to receive his Master of Arts degree from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in Music Composition from the City University of New York. During that time he studied with many of the music world's leading contemporary composers including Robert Moevs, Charles Wuorinen, Noel DaCosta, David Olan and David Del Tredici. This myriad of influences can be heard in the diversity of Burwasser's own works. He has received grants from The American Music Center and Meet the Composer.
Burwasser released his first solo album,
Flights of Imagination, on April 14, 2023. This compilation, which features all of his Parma/Navona works, was awarded the
Global Music Awards silver medal for composition and contemporary classical music and has received critical acclaim in Gramophone, Fanfare and Absolute Sound.
Critics have described Burwasser's music as highly communicative, emotionally charged, actively engaging, refreshingly lyrical, and displaying a fine sense of balance and proportion. His works have been performed throughout the United States as well as in South Korea, Armenia, Slovakia, and Russia.
Burwasser has received numerous commissions including several works for the Downtown Chamber Players, electric violist Martha Mooke, Mark Ortwein, Elizabeth Knott, the Kalliope Reed Quintet, and the Idaho Falls, Idaho school district. His recent rock-infused work,
Triumvirate, for bassoon, piano and drum set received its world premiere on March 4, 2024 at the University of Indianapolis.
In addition to these performances and commissions, four of Burwasser's percussion-featured works,
Rotations for marimba solo,
Groove Moves for percussion octet,
Snapshots for solo snare drum, and
Grooves and Riffs for tuba, french horn and drum set are featured in a recording called
Snapshots by percussionist Zach Paris on Terra Voce Records. Another one of Burwasser's works,
Breaking and Entering, for solo electrified bassoon is also featured on a brand new release from multi-instrumentalist Mark Ortwein on Terra Voce Records called
Stretching Boundaries.
False Awakening was also just released on the debut album of The Kalliope Reed Quintet called
Amaru on Terra Voce Records.
Many of Burwasser's works are published by Imagine Music Publishing and Ensemble Publications, but they can also be purchased on Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct. Burwasser currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Music at Hunter College and Queens College, CUNY.
You can also watch and listen to many of Burwasser's latest works on his
YouTube channel. Please comment, like and SUBSCRIBE!