Daniel Simmons attends the 2024 TSM Academy courtesy of the Béatrice de Montmollin & Lawrence Herman Fellowship.

Hometown: Queens, New York

Daniel Simmons, a junior in the Columbia University-Juilliard School Program, majors in economics and viola performance. A graduate of the Juilliard Pre-College, Daniel has attended prestigious music programs including the Heifetz Institute, Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, Curtis Summerfest, and Tanglewood. In 2023, Daniel attended the Colorado College Summer Music Festival and the Conservatoire Américain in Fontainebleau, France, where he won the Third Prize in the Prix Ravel. He was a finalist in the 63rd Eastern Connecticut Symphony Competition.  

As a chamber musician, Daniel has collaborated with renowned artists including Samuel Rhodes, Hsin-Yun Huang, and Andrew Wan. As violist of the Crown Quartet, comprised of musicians from Columbia University and Juilliard, Daniel enjoys a dynamic performance schedule, from outreach concerts at nursing homes to recordings at the Mannes School of Music. The Crown Quartet performed at the 2023 Columbia University Commencement Ceremony for over 30,000 listeners and at the Inauguration of President Minouche Shafik at Columbia. 

Daniel has performed in many esteemed venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Seiji Ozawa Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Dimenna Center, the Kimmel Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Château de Fontainebleau. He has played under the baton of the world’s finest conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Ken-David Masur, David Robertson and Scott Yoo. Daniel is the principal violist of the Columbia University Orchestra and frequently performs as principal violist with the Brooklyn Orchestra. He currently studies with Paul Neubauer and Steven Tenenbom.