Daniel Knapp is a cellist and arts manager dedicated to exploring new ways of listening and supporting contemporary artists. Praised for his “strikingly beautiful” playing (I Care If You Listen), Daniel combines artistic vision with administrative leadership, pursuing collaboration, experimentation, and accessibility across the performing arts.

Daniel’s creative practice centers on curiosity and visceral engagement, favoring work that invites reaction over passive consumption. He is the Founder of The Musikos Collective, a community-led arts organization that has “grown into a staple of Oberlin life” (The Oberlin Review). Over four seasons, Musikos commissioned more than 20 new works and presented over 200 performers spanning classical, jazz, cinema, dance, slam poetry, astrology, electroacoustic, and baroque practices. Daniel now serves as Artistic Advisor, and the collective continues to present concerts grounded in experimentation and cross-disciplinary exchange.

Recent performance highlights include collaborations with Eighth Blackbird, Bang on a Can All-Stars, and the International Contemporary Ensemble, as well as premieres of works by Joan Tower, Nicole Lizée, Ben Nobuto, and Courtney Bryan. In his solo work, Daniel is developing his own compositions and arrangements drawn from the music of Abdul Wadud and Meredith Monk. His Carnegie Hall debut with the Oberlin Orchestra was for the United Nations General Conference, and he has since returned to New York City to perform at Bang on a Can’s Long Play and Loud Weekend festivals. 

As the cellist of The Ἔris Quartet, Daniel has toured prisons, parlors, libraries, and neighborhood non-profit meetings. Mentorship from the JACK Quartet and the Verona Quartet has shaped the ensemble’s collaborative, genre-fluid approach, as showcased in a forthcoming collaborative album with Wendy Eisenberg, set for release on dear life records in 2026. 

Beyond performance, Daniel is deeply involved in the infrastructure that supports new music. He has worked with institutions including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Bang on a Can, the International Cello Institute, Music for Food, and Pink Noise Agency. He currently serves as Label Manager and Director of Touring Productions for the Grammy Award–winning label Bright Shiny Things, where he oversees album releases, artist relations, and the label’s management roster of musicians and ensembles.

His favorite color lies somewhere between a blood orange and a mango. And a pomegranate.