DANIEL COLANER
Organist

Daniel Colaner 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, performing Doxology Variations with the American Pops Orchestra in One Voice: The Songs We Share—The Sacred. This past spring, he performed Joseph Jongen's Symphonie Concertante with the CIM Orchestra under Carlos Kalmar. In 2021, he was chosen for The Diapason magazine's "20 Under 30," a select group of young adults at the forefront of the organ field. He was a 2023 National YoungArts Finalist in Organ/ Classical Music and the recipient of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award in 2020. Most recently, he was the 1st Prize Winner at the 2023 Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival Competition (HS Division). Additional honors include 1st Prize and Audience Prize at the 2023 Arthur Poister Organ Competition and the 2023 L. Cameron Johnson Memorial Organ Competition, 1st Prize and the Bach Prize at the ECU Young Artists Organ Competition, 1st Prize at the Columbia AGO Competition for Young Organists, and 1st Prize and Audience Prize at the Sursa American Organ Competition (HS Division). As the recipient of a 2023 Anthony Quinn Foundation Scholarship, Daniel had the opportunity to perform on the great organs of Paris during the French Organ Music Seminar this past summer.

Also an accomplished pianist, Daniel has been a prize winner at numerous competitions, including the American Protégé Piano Competition, the Steinway Junior Piano Competition, and The American Prize Lorin Hollander Concerto Competition. In 2022, he made his Severance Hall debut with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, performing Nikolai Kapustin's Piano Concerto No. 2. He has performed Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Euclid Symphony Orchestra, a work he has also performed with the Lakeland Civic Orchestra and the Suburban Symphony Orchestra. An avid collaborative pianist and chamber musician, his Meraki Trio was awarded 1st Place at the inaugural Glass City Chamber Music Competition last year and was selected to compete in the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

Diagnosed with stage IV cancer as an infant, exposure to music as cognitive therapy, combined with his love of sound, unleashed Daniel's passion for the piano at age 5 and the organ at age 10. He continues to actively promote the benefits of classical music and has helped raise thousands of dollars for non-profit organizations which support music education and music therapy.

Daniel is the Organ Scholar at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and a private organ student of David Higgs of the Eastman School of Music. When not making music, Daniel enjoys programming, learning foreign languages, and the company of his calico cat, Imogene.