ABOUT DÁNIEL
Daniel Matei is a New York based Hungarian-Romanian percussionist, composer, improviser with a keen interest in the collaborative and ever-evolving nature of music.
He has recently performed with ensembles such as Sō Percussion, Excelsis Percussion Group, Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra, Contemporaneous, Talujon, TACETi, Tactus, The Orchestra Now, and participated in a project with the New Chamber Ballet, at venues including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, DiMenna Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Opera America, MASS MoCA, The Clark Institute, and Banff Centre for the Arts.
Daniel is a recent graduate of Manhattan School of Music’s Contemporary Performance Program, where he studied percussion with David Cossin and John Ferrari, and composition with Reiko Füting. He received his BM and BA from Bard College, where he studied percussion with members of Sō Percussion and composition with Jason Treuting.
In his compositions he seeks to synthesize influences from American minimalism, European Classical and Avant-Garde, and Hungarian and Romanian folk music, creating immersive, spatialized electro-acoustic works.
These days he is most excited about Noise Catalogue, an ensemble he co-founded that won the 2023 Dwight and Ursula Mamlok Junior Award.
————————————————————————————————
LONG BIO
Daniel Matei is a Hungarian-Romanian percussionist, composer, and improviser based in New York. His work is rooted in collaboration and exploration, drawing from contemporary classical, electro-acoustic, and folk traditions.
He has performed with ensembles such as Sō Percussion, Excelsis Percussion Group, Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra, Contemporaneous, Talujon, TACETi, Tactus, and The Orchestra Now, as well as the Hungarian National Philharmonic and New Chamber Ballet. His performances have taken him to Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, DiMenna Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Opera America, MASS MoCA, The Clark Institute, and Banff Centre for the Arts, as well as venues in Hungary including the Liszt Academy, Palace of Arts, Vigadó, National Gallery, Szeged National Theater, and Kiscelli Museum.
Daniel recently completed his Master's in Contemporary Performance at the Manhattan School of Music, studying percussion with David Cossin and John Ferrari and composition with Reiko Füting. He earned his BM in Percussion Performance and BA in Liberal Arts (Italian Studies) from Bard College, where he studied with members of Sō Percussion.
He has attended festivals such as Juilliard Summer Percussion Seminar, Sō Percussion Summer Institute, Chosen Vale, Bang on a Can Summer Festival, Evolution: Classical (Banff Centre), and soundSCAPE (Switzerland). His compositional work integrates American minimalism, European avant-garde, and Hungarian and Romanian folk music, often in immersive, electro-acoustic formats. He has commissioned solo works from Molly Herron, Darian Thomas, and Erich Barganier, as well as ensemble pieces by Thomas Palmer and Dennis Matos.
His interdisciplinary projects include collaborations with New Chamber Ballet, dancers Sam Fairbrother and Mark Bankin, and visual artist Sophie "Knox" Peters, as well as integrating original video works into Noise Catalogue, the ensemble he co-founded, which won the 2023 Dwight and Ursula Mamlok Junior Award.
During his undergraduate studies, Daniel researched Italian Futurism and its intersection with sound and language, conducting archival research in Milan. This work culminated in an extensive research paper titled "Luigi Russolo: The Work and Influence of a Visionary – The Birth of Noise-Music" and the composition of "Noi Vogliamo…", a chamber piece inspired by Russolo’s Art of Noises.
Beyond music, he has participated in politically engaged performances. On October 23, 2020, during the Hungarian protests against the government’s hostile takeover of SZFE University, he performed Beethoven’s Egmont Overture—an unofficial anthem of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution—with an orchestra of students outside the university’s barricaded building, as over 10,000 protesters gathered in solidarity. In 2021 he organized a fundraiser concert for the Community Justice Exchange in support of BLM protesters, and in 2022 he participated as a drummer at a protest at the UN Headquarters advocating for a democratic Iran.
Currently, he is most excited about Noise Catalogue, which continues to evolve as a platform for experimental and multimedia performance.