Nicholas Daniel OBE

Nicholas Daniel has long been considered one of the most important oboists and is one of the most famous musicians in Great Britain. By commissioning hundreds of new works, he has substantially expanded the repertoire for his instrument. Nicholas dedicates his life to music in a variety of ways. He records for CD and radio and boasts a large international following on social media. He is proud to support many important initiatives, charities, and foundations and has led many music festivals and concert series, particularly in Germany and Dartington and since 2003 is artistic director of the Leicester International Music Festival and its Lunchtime Series. He is a professor at the Trossingen University of Music in Germany.

After his conducting debut in 2004 at the BBC Proms, he has worked with many good ensembles on a broad range of repertoire, which reaches from the Baroque to the contemporary period and from small groups to opera. He is the music director of Triorca, an orchestra project that brings together talented musicians from Germany, Serbia, and the United Kingdom, as well as music director and artistic director of the Orion Orchestra, which fulfills a role of orchestral experience between conservatory and career. In recognition of his achievements, he was awarded the prestigious Queen's Medal for Music by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 and described as "an outstanding contribution to the nation's musical life." In October 2020, he was admitted into the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

After singing in the choir of Salisbury Cathedral as a boy, Nicholas was thrust straight into the limelight at the age of 18 when he won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. After a short period of study at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Janet Craxton and Celia Nicklin and then privately with the clarinetists Anthony Pay and Hans Keller, he quickly established his career with early debuts at the BBC Proms and on recordings.

He was a concert soloist with many of the world's leading orchestras and directors and played massive repertoire from Bach to Xenakis and beyond. He has premiered works by composers such as Harrison Birtwistle, Henri Dutilleux, James MacMillan, Thea Musgrave, John Taverner and Michael Tippett and also encourages many young composers to write for the oboe. His recordings of the Vaughan-Williams and MacMillan concertos won the 2016 BBC Music Magazine Premiere Award.

As a chamber musician, Nicholas is a founding member of the prize-winning Britten Sinfonia, Haffner Wind Ensemble, Britten Oboe Quartet, and Orsino Winds, whose debut album by Chandros had great success. In addition, he works regularly with the pianists Huw Watkins and Julius Drake and with many leading string quartets such as Carducci, Doric and Vogler. He is the solo oboist of the Camerata Pacifica, California's leading chamber music ensemble and is a popular guest at music festivals all over the world. In 2022, he signed an exclusive record with Chandos Records and plays instruments that the Lorée in Paris has specially made for him.