Biography

Daniel Velasco is an award-winning flutist whose “standout” and “vibrant” performances (Miami Herald) have taken him around the world. He is the first-prize winner of the National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition, WAMSO Minnesota Orchestra Competition, MTNA Young Artist Competition, Claude Monteux Flute Competition, second-prize winner of the William C. Byrd Competition, and finalist at the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh International Competition. A Yamaha performing artist, his first solo album, Flauta Andina, with Ellen Sommer (piano), was released in 2022 under the Naxos label.

As a soloist, he has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador, Salina Symphony, and several student ensembles. He has been featured as a guest performer at recital series and flute events across the United States. Internationally, he has been invited to perform at the Swedish Flute Association Convention, the Guadalajara-Mexico Vientos de Otoño Festival, the Festival Internacional de Flautistas en la Mitad del Mundo in Ecuador, the Milan Conservatory, and the Instituto Cervantes in Paris, among others.

Orchestral festivals include the Latin American Orchestra, Chautauqua Music Festival, Orchestra de la Francophonie, Utah Festival Opera, as well as tours through Chile and Central America with the Orchestra of the Americas. He has performed under Carlos Prieto, Gustavo Dudamel, Claudio Abbado, Ben Zander, Jean-Philippe Tremblay, Jacomo Bairos, Cristian Macelaru, Carl St. Clair, Matthias Pintscher, Michael Stern, and others. An active freelancer, he was a member of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera, and Palm Beach Symphony, and performs frequently with the Kansas City Symphony. He is a founding member of the Miami-based NuDeco Ensemble.

Velasco earned a doctoral degree from the University of Miami (Frost School of Music), and holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Northern Iowa. His main teachers include Angeleita Floyd, Marianne Gedigian, Amy Porter and Trudy Kane. He served on the faculty at the University of Akron from 2016–2018 and is currently the Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Kansas.