My interests lie primarily in the creation of living music, through active collaboration with composers. I am most at home in small ensembles, recording studios, and opera pits, though my technique has a firm grounding in the orchestral tradition of the Common Practice Era. I take these skills both as a basis of communal understanding and as a point of departure.
In the past couple of years, I’ve had the good fortune to take part in the world premiere of a new opera from Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, to perform the music of Dev Hynes at BAM and NYFW, and to record the music of Tyondai Braxton, Dave Brubeck, Julius Eastman, Patrick Harlin, Éliane Radigue, and Nicky Sohn for releases on labels that include Nonesuch, Navona, Bright Shiny Things, and Furious Artisans. I serve as Managing Director of Kinetic Ensemble, who released their debut album in November 2023, and who were named Best Chamber Orchestra of 2023 by the Houston Press. At present, I split my time between New York and Houston.
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The Phoenix Symphony
— Phoenix, Arizona
— Substitute Double Bass since 2024Parlando
— New York, New York
— Double Bass since 2023Contemporaneous
— New York, New York
— Double Bass since 2023
— Residency at Colgate UniversityMusiqa
— Houston, Texas
— Double Bass since 2023
— Collaboration with the Houston BalletHouston Ballet
— Houston, Texas
— Substitute Double Bass since 2022Argento Ensemble
— New York, New York
— Double Bass since 2022Houston Grand Opera
— Houston, Texas
— Substitute Double Bass since 2022New York Classical Players
— New York, New York
— Double Bass since 2021Metropolis Ensemble
— New York, New York
— Double Bass since 2021
— Studio recording with Tyondai Braxton, released 2022 on NonesuchString Orchestra of Brooklyn
— Brooklyn, New York
— Double Bass since 2021
— Performance at the Marni Spring 2023 runway show for NYFW with Dev Hynes
— Performance at BAM of the music of Dev Hynes, with Adam Tendler and Third Coast Percussion, curated by Hanif Abdurraqib
— Studio recording of Julius Eastman, forthcoming on Furious ArtisansThe Orchestra Now
— Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
— Associate Double Bass since 2021
— Performance at Jazz at Lincoln Center
— Studio recording of the music of William Henry Fry, released 2022 on Bridge RecordsCenter for Musical Excellence
— Bedminster, New Jersey
— Double Bass since 2021
— Performance with the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young ArtistsKinetic Ensemble
— Houston, Texas
— Double Bass since 2021
— Managing Director 2023-2024
— Conductorless chamber orchestra
— Studio recording of Patrick Harlin, Paul Novak, Nicky Sohn, and Daniel Temkin, released 2023 on Bright Shiny Things
— Studio recording with the Houston Chamber Choir, released 2023 on Cappella RecordsDACAMERA
— Houston, Texas
— Young Artist Fellowship, 2018-2020
— Chamber music performances, community engagement, and public school outreachLoop38
— Houston, Texas
— Co-director, 2017-2020
— Double Bass, 2016-2020
— Performances of Adès, Eastman, Fure, Haas, Norman, Ratkje, and others -
Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s Underground Sounds
— Houston, Texas
— 2023
— Six sold-out performances as featured artist alongside soprano Alexandra Smither
— Includes the premiere of a new work with text from Houston Poet Laureate Aris KianSpoleto Festival USA
— Charleston, South Carolina
— 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, & 2023
— Commissioned artist for the 2023 iteration of “Tell Your Story”
— Performances of Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Omar, in its world premiere
— Performance of Jessie Cox’s Alongside a Chorus of Voices, in its US premiere
— Performance of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s AION Symphony, in its US premiere
— Virtual performance of Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together
— Performances of Liza Lim’s Tree of Codes, in its US premiereWindSync Onstage Offstage Chamber Music Festival
— Houston, Texas
— 2019 & 2022
— Performance with Invoke of David Jones' Spires, in its world premiereBanff Centre for Arts and Creativity
— Banff, Alberta
— 2019
— Performances of Nicole Lizée with Against the Grain TheatreLucerne Festival Academy
— Lucerne, Switzerland
— 2017
— Performances of Ligeti with Patricia KopatchinskajaWabass Institute
— Wabash, Indiana
— 2016Internationale Ensemble Modern Akademie
— Innsbruck, Austria
— 2015
— Performances with Tony Arnold and Beat FurrerNational Orchestral Institute + Festival
— College Park, Maryland
— 2015Le Domaine Forget
— St. Irénée, Québec
— 2013 & 2014 -
Houston Public Media's "Encore Houston," Episode 209: Loop38
— Live from the Rothko Chapel, May 4, 2023
— With Debora D.E.E.P Mouton
— Music by Caroline Chen, Martha Horst, & George LewisHouston Public Media's "Encore Houston," Episode 202: Musiqa
— Live from MATCH, January 20, 2023
— Music by Pierre JalbertHouston Public Media's "Encore Houston," Episode 201: Kinetic Ensemble
— Live from MATCH, October 9, 2022
— Music by Patrick Harlin, Nicky Sohn, and Leo Weiner -
Daniel Knaggs: The Joyful Mysteries and Other Works
— 2024
— With Leonardo Llagostera, Gabriella Reyes, Sarah Mesko, Federico De Michelis, Robert Simpson, Kinetic Ensemble, Monarch Chamber Players, and the Houston Chamber Choir
— Released on Acis RecordsThe Voice of Brubeck, Vol. 1
— 2024
— With The Brubeck Brothers Quartet, the Paul English Quartet, Horace Alexander Young, Robert Simpson, and the Houston Chamber Choir
— Released on Navona RecordsDaniel Knaggs: Two Streams
— 2023
— With Caitlin Aloia, Sasha Cooke, Christopher Bozeka, Mark Diamond, Robert Simpson, Kinetic Ensemble, and the Houston Chamber Choir
— Released on Cappella RecordsKinetic Ensemble: Kinetic
— 2023
— Works from Patrick Harlin, Paul Novak, Nicky Sohn, and Daniel Temkin
— Released on Bright Shiny ThingsTyondai Braxton: Telekinesis
— 2022
— With Andrew Cyr and Metropolis Ensemble
— Released on NonesuchClassics of American Romanticism
— 2022
— With Leon Botstein and The Orchestra Now
— Released on Bridge RecordsHartke, Ogonek, & Jones: Chamber Works
— 2021
— With Tim Weiss and the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
— Released on the Oberlin Music labelTheo Chandler: Oboe Concerto
— 2021
— With Virginia McDowell and Karl BlenchGinastera: One Hundred
— 2016
— With Yolanda Kondonassis, Raphael Jiménez, and the Oberlin Orchestra
— Released on the Oberlin Music labelCorigliano: Symphony No. 1
— 2016
— With David Alan Miller and the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic
— Released on the Naxos American Classics label -
The Graduate Center, City University New York
— New York, New York
— D.M.A. in Double Bass Performance, anticipated 2025The Shepherd School of Music, Rice University
— Houston, Texas
— M.M. in Double Bass Performance, conferred 2019
— Graduate Teaching Assistant
— F. Martin Caylor Prize, 2018
— Marcella Johnson and Daniel Thompson Endowed Scholarship in Double Bass, 2017Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music
— Oberlin, Ohio
— B.M. in Double Bass Performance, conferred 2016Primary Musical Instruction
— Rex Surany
— Paul Ellison
— Scott Dixon
— Tracy Rowell
— Andres GilMasterclasses and Additional Instruction: Nicolas Crosse, Max Dimoff, Mark Dresser, Uli Fussenegger, Susan Hagen, Micah Howard, Robin Kesselman, Eric Larson, Ranaan Meyer, David Allen Moore, Timothy Pitts, François Rabbath, Harold Robinson, Jeffrey Turner, Ali Yazdanfar, Derek Zadinsky