American Conductor Marlon Daniel is a protégé of the renowned Finnish  pedagogue Jorma Panula. He has been described as “a natural and enormous  talent” by the Chicago Sun-Times and as “fabulous and exceptional” by  Pravda – Moscow. He is one of the most dynamic conductors of his  generation and is a bright light for diversity in the world of classical  music. He has performed in prestigious venues in Asia, Europe and the  United States, from Carnegie Hall to the Rudolfinum in Prague.

A laureate of the 2018 Bucharest Symphony Orchestra International  Conducting Competition, he is also a recipient of the ‘Voice of the  Artist’ Award from the United Nations in recognition of his charitable  work bringing awareness to the crisis in Darfur and an Honorary Key to  the City of Chicago for Outstanding Musical Achievement. 

Recently, he has made acclaimed débuts with Chineke! in London, the  Havana Lyceum Orchestra, Sofia Sinfonietta, Tatarstan National Symphony  Orchestra and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba, where he was the  first American to date invited since President Barack Obama’s historic  lifting of the U.S. embargo in 2015, and the only African American to  conduct  the orchestra in its sixty-year history.

He is the world’s foremost exponent and interpreter of the music of  Chevalier de Saint-Georges and a champion of works by living composers,  especially of African descent. His recording “Phoenix Forever” (music of  Hampson Sisler) on the MSR Classics label received rave reviews and was  in consideration for a 2011 GRAMMY. 

He has worked with international artists that include Rachel  Barton-Pine, Yuriy Bekker, J’Nai Bridges, Janinah Burnett, Soloman  Howard, Sami Junnonen, Koh Gabriel Kameda, Julian Milkis, Magali Léger,  Kristin Lewis, Norm Lewis, Phylicia Rashād, Eric Silberger, Russell  Thomas and Deborah Voigt. 

He received his formative education in Europe and the United States and  is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music (United States) and the  Prague Academy (Czech Republic). He also earned diplomas from Le  Conservatoire Américain - Fontainebleau (France) and Centro de Estudios  Musicales Isaac Albéniz - Reina Sofía (Spain). His conducting teachers  have included Jiří Bělohlávek, David Gilbert, Tomáš Koutník, Miriam  Němcová and Jorma Panula. He has also benefited from the advice of Sir  Simon Rattle as a winner of the John and Mary Virginia Foncannon  Conducting Award and Iván Fischer at the Beethovenfest Bonn as the  recipient of the James and Lola Faust Fellowship.

Mr. Daniel has held positions as Associate Conductor of the Praga  Sinfonietta, Principal Guest Conductor of the Pazardzhik Symphony  Orchestra and has been a Guest Lecturer at Yale University. Currently,  he is Artistic and Music Director of the Festival International de  Musique Saint-Georges, Music Director of Ensemble du Monde (chamber  orchestra), Director of the Diversity in Classical Music Project at  Teachers College, Columbia University and has recently joined the  faculty Fordham University as Director of Orchestral Ensembles, where he  leads the Symphony Orchestra at Rose Hill and Chamber Orchestra at  Lincoln Center.

Next season, he will make débuts at the prestigious Havana Mozart  Festival, Opera Créole in New Orleans and release a new CD on the French  label, Alpha Records.