Daniel Burwasser
Global Music Awards silver medalist Daniel Burwasser is an American composer, percussionist and
teacher. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Burwasser has been writing and playing music since the
age of five. Originally a student of the piano, he eventually progressed to other forms of
percussion, including drum set and orchestral percussion. 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 The 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. He is known as the composer of works such as Flux, recorded by The Concordia Orchestra,
Marin Alsop conductor; Catching Fireflies, recorded by The Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz
conductor, and A Well Traveled Road recorded by the Slovak Radio Orchestra, Robert Stankovsky,
conductor. Other recorded works include Whirlwind for woodwind quintet by the Arcadian Winds and
released on Navona Records. Puck's Game recorded by the Sirius Quartet was also released on Navona
on an album entitled, Playing on the Edge 2. This album received a Global Music Award Silver Medal
for Outstanding Achievement in the string quartet category in 2020.
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 in 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, 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 recent 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!
Website: www.danielburwasser.com