Curtis at All Hallows: Daniel Colaner, organ

American organist Daniel Colaner first captured international media attention at the age of 12 with his same-day performances on piano at Carnegie Hall and on organ at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Since then, his talents have been showcased on ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, The Harry (Connick Jr.) Show, and the BBC World Service Newsday. He has been featured on the NPR radio show From the Top (Show #377), performing “Jupiter” from Gustav Holst’s The Planets, and on PBS with the American Pops Orchestra in One Voice: The Songs We Share–The Sacred. In 2023, he made his orchestral debut with Joseph Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante under Carlos Kalmar.

A member of The Diapason magazine’s “20 Under 30” Class of 2021, he was a 2023 National YoungArts Winner with Distinction in Organ/Classical Music and a recipient of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. He has been a top prize winner at numerous organ competitions, including the Arthur Poister Organ Competition and the Albert Schweitzer Organ Competition (HS Division). His recent success at the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition also garnered him the Bach Prize as well as future engagements at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, New College, Oxford, Manchester Cathedral, and a Bach Corner concert at the St. Albans International Organ Festival.

As a prize-winning pianist and chamber musician, Daniel has been a laureate of the American Protégé Piano Competition and The American Prize Lorin Hollander Concerto Competition. He made his Severance Hall debut with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, performing Nikolai Kapustin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and has performed Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Euclid, Lakeland, and Suburban Symphony Orchestras. His Meraki Trio was awarded 1st Prize at the inaugural Glass City Chamber Music Competition and was one of four piano trios to advance to the semi-final round of the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

His exposure to classical music as a pediatric cancer survivor unleashed his passion for the piano at age 5 and the organ at age 10. He received his pre-college music education at the Cleveland Institute of Music and as a private organ student of Dr. David Higgs. Currently a first-year student of Alan Morrison at the Curtis Institute of Music, he holds the Dr. Mi Wha Lee Fellowship and serves as the Michael Stairs Organ Scholar at the Church of The Redeemer in Bryn Mawr, PA. In addition to making music, Daniel’s passions include promoting the benefits of classical music on both radio and television and raising funds for non-profit organizations that support music therapy and music education.