Daniel Asia: Composer
Daniel Asia (b. 1953) stands among the most versatile composers of his generation, having traversed orchestral, chamber, vocal, and operatic realms with equal mastery. A 2009 recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award and inducted into the American Academy of Sciences and Letters in 2024, Asia has been hailed as "a genuine creative spirit" and "a welcome addition to the roster of our strongest group of living composers."
His orchestral works have been commissioned and performed by major symphony orchestras including Cincinnati, Seattle, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and the American Composers Orchestra in New York City. Renowned conductors such as Jesús López-Cobos, Eiji Oue, Gerard Schwarz, and Zdeněk Mácal have championed his music on stages across America and Europe.
Asia served as Professor of Music at the University of Arizona from 1988-2024 and currently serves as President of Polyhymnia (Center for American Culture and Ideas). His distinguished career includes a Guggenheim Fellowship, four NEA Composers Grants, a Fulbright Arts Award Fellowship, and numerous other honors recognizing his contribution to American music.
String Quartets
Press
The New York Times: "...sensuous approach to sound..."
Audiophile Audition: "Engaging, energetic, and playful."
Chamber Music America (2004): Both String Quartet and String Quartet No. 2 selected from over 1,000 nominations as among the 101 most significant works in the American ensemble repertoire.
Paul Hertelendy, ArtsSF.com (2007): "One of the most stimulating and consistently inventive new string quartets we've heard in years... The jocular opening movement blazes with originality, offering jazz-like syncopation."
Richard Scheinin, San Jose Mercury News (2007): "The music put out a personal call. It was conversational – speech-like, sometimes argumentative and generally dark... Asia is an experimenter, a careful thinker who also takes risks. Let's hear it again."
String Quartet No. 1 (1975)
A highly eclectic, five-movement work composed during his student years at the Yale School of Music. It blends lyrical passages with avant-garde string techniques like scraping, plucking, and rapping the bodies of the instruments.
- Movement 1: Intensivo
- Movement 2: Dramatico
- Movement 3: Allegro
- Movement 4: Lirico
- Movement 5: Misterioso
String Quartet No. 2 (1985)
A four-movement piece built around a theme and variations. It heavily contrasts eerie, dreamlike textures with serene melodies to push the emotional and physical boundaries of the quartet.
- Movement 1: Cantabile
- Movement 2: Moderato
- Movement 3: Majestic
- Movement 4: Presto possible
String Quartet No. 3, "The Seer" (2006)
A mosaic-like, multi-movement work commissioned by the Cypress String Quartet. Its title and abstract structures are directly inspired by Adolph Gottlieb's painting The Seer.
- Movement 1: Vivac
- Movement 2: Andante (pensive)
- Movement 3: Whimsical
- Movement 4: With humor
- Movement 5: Adagio (soulful)
- Movement 6: Playful, cantabile
- Movement 7: Vivace
Pines' Last Poems
Statement from Daniel Asia"My friend and long-time collaborator, Paul Pines, died in 2018, on my birthday, June 27, in Glens Falls, NY. Paul wrote about synchronicity in his poems. Like the physicist Erwin Schrödinger, who famously posited the cat both alive and dead, Paul believed that many things happen for a reason, and not just by happenstance. And so I like to believe that Paul's untimely death wasn't just by chance.Might he have been signaling me?These poems, which were left on his desk upon his passing, were sent to me by his wife. They remained on my desk for a long time before I could confront them, as the final documents my friend left for us. They confront dying, the ambiguity of spring and death, and some unfinished business of our history, Vietnam. They are dedicated to Paul's memory and his continued presence in my life."
This song cycle stands as both eulogy and celebration, honoring Pines' voice while extending the artistic dialogue these two friends shared throughout their careers. The commissioned version for mezzo-soprano and string quartet expands upon the original baritone and piano setting featured on Asia's album A Mask That Changes, revealing new dimensions of emotional depth within the chamber music idiom.
Instrumentation & Structure
This work is divided into four movements, each corresponding directly to one of Paul Pines' final four poems.
Instrumentation
- Mezzo-soprano (Solo Voice)
- Two Violins
- One Viola
- One Cello
Four-Movement Structure
- I. The Last Oracle
- II. The Ghost Dancer
- III. To Be or Not
- IV. Unfinished Business
Performers & Conductors
Daniel Asia's symphonic works have been brought to life by some of the world's most distinguished ensembles and conductors, showcasing the breadth and appeal of his compositional voice across the international classical music community.
Distinguished Ensembles
Dorian Wind Quintet, American Brass Quintet, Meadowmount Trio, Cypress Quartet, Amernet String Quartet
Acclaimed Soloists
Andre-Michel Schub, Alex Klein, Benjamin Verdery, John Shirley-Quirk, Sara Watkins, Christopher Pedro Trakas, Faye Robinson, Robert Dick, Carter Brey, Julian Schwarz, Robert Swensen, Jeremy Huw Williams, Carmen Pelton, Mary Feinsinger
Renowned Conductors
Zdenek Macal, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Eiji Oue, Lawrence Leighton Smith, Carl St. Clair, James Sedares, Stuart Malina, George Hanson, Kirk Trevor, Koji Kawamoto, Gerard Schwarz, Odaline de la Martinez, Jonathan Shames
Distinguished Recognition
Throughout his career, Daniel Asia has received some of the most prestigious honors available to American composers, reflecting both the quality of his work and his significant contribution to contemporary classical music.
American Academy of Sciences & Letters induction ceremony, 2024
American Academy of Arts and Letters Award
2009
American Academy of Sciences and Letters
Inducted 2024
Guggenheim Fellowship
United Kingdom Fulbright Arts Award Fellowship
National Endowment for the Arts
Four NEA Composers Grants
Major Foundation Support
M.B. Rockefeller Grant | Aaron Copland Fund for Music Grant
Artist Residencies
MacDowell Colony Fellowship | Tanglewood Fellowship | DAAD Fellowship (Germany)
Composition Prizes
ASCAP Composition Prize | BMI Composition Prize
Orchestra Residency
Meet The Composer/Composer in Residence with the Phoenix Symphony 1991-94
Connect With Us
Igor Reznik
Agent & Producer
Momentum Artists
Agent & Producer
Momentum Artists
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +1-646-975-8402
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