Daniel Temkin has been writing music since age thirteen. One of his earliest compositions, “The Realm of Solitude,” was premiered in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall as part of the Cecilian Music Society’s Young Artist Competition, and his “Five Bagatelles” and “two e.e. cummings poems” were selected as finalists in the ASCAP Young Composers Competition.

In 2008 his chamber work “Floating Amidst...” was premiered under the baton of the New York Youth Symphony’s Ryan McAdams, and his marimba solo “Expansive Horizons” was arranged for the acclaimed MusicCity Mystique percussion group. In 2009, his work “Wistfully Reminiscing” was premiered by pianist Qing Jiang in Los Angeles’s Bing Theatre at a sold-out concert which was broadcast over the internet and on Los Angeles radio station KCSN 88.5 FM.

Currently, Daniel is completing a song cycle which will be co-premiered by sopranos Susanna Su and Helen Gabrielsen. In addition, he is working on a piece for the internationally renowned American Brass Quintet, and in 2010 the Rutgers Symphony Orchestra will premier his “Regenerations – A Set of Variations for Orchestra” in NYC’s Symphony Space.

In addition to composing, teaching, and frequently lecturing on contemporary music, Daniel is often in demand as a performer. As a percussionist he has been hired as a guest artist with the New York Youth Symphony, and he has worked on numerous occasions with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble. He has also performed with the Mostly Mozart Festival’s Riverside Choral Society, and he has worked under the direction of David Zinman, James Conlon, Leonard Slatkin, Grant Llewellyn, Rossen Milanov, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and Hugh Wolff.

Daniel has performed in masterclass for many leading percussionists including Eric Sammut, Michael Burritt, Alan Abel, Mike Werner, Will Hudgins, Ray Froehlich, Ted Atkatz, and others. He is featured on the world premier recording of Irwin Bazelon’s “Bazz Ma’ Tazz” (Albany Records) and he has worked with and performed music of American composers John Corigliano, Gunther Schuller, Christopher Rouse, David Liptak, and Vincent Persichetti. He has also performed chamber music with international soloists Orli Shaham and Sarah Chang.

Daniel holds a BM Performance Degree from Rutgers University where he studied with Chris Deviney of the Philadelphia Orchestra and marimba virtuoso She-e Wu. He is a recipient of the Theodore Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award and he is an alumnus of the Eastern, Brevard, and Aspen Music Festivals. He has studied composition with Charles Fussell, Kevin Puts, Robert Aldridge, and Sydney Hodkinson, and he is currently a graduate composition fellow at the New England Conservatory where he studies with Michael Gandolfi.