Described as “…embracing the unknown” by The Philadelphia Inquirer, the music of composer Daniel Shapiro (b. 1985) has been performed by leading ensembles and soloists including the American Brass Quintet, the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, the Yale Contemporary Ensemble, Grammy Award-winning soprano Susan Narucki, and in particular the Network for New Music, which premiered two chamber works in Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center during the 2008-09 season: Rosetta Stone, commissioned by the NNM Poetry Project; and Eight Miniatures for Piano Trio, commissioned by NNM, the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the American Composers Forum in honor of Krzysztof Penderecki’s 75th birthday.

The 2009-10 season features international and US premieres of four significant commissions: Plain-Chant sur L’Ocean, for harpist Coline-Marie Orliac at Fontainebleau Château, France; The Church-Floore, a choral anthem for Durham Cathedral, England; Children’s Games, a piano quartet for violinist Soovin Kim and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center musicians, at the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, VT; and his Sonata for Viola, for violist Hyo-Bi Sim and Curtis-on-Tour, at venues including the Ravinia Festival and Lincoln Center.

Shapiro is a recipient of fellowships from the Norfolk Contemporary Music Festival and the Ecole Americain des Beaux-Arts (1st prize, scenographie), and awards from the Lyra Society, National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts, and SACEM in Paris. He is a member of ASCAP and the American Composers Forum. He is a graduate of West Chester University, Pennsylvania, and was granted a Benjamin Franklin Fellowship to the University of Pennsylvania Ph.D in Music Composition (deferred, 2008). He resides in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma in Composition at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studies with Richard Danielpour, Jennifer Higdon and David Ludwig.