Daniel Kuehler - 2021 Award Winner 

Listen to the recording of Daniel's recital HERE.

Dr. Daniel Kuehler, a St. Louis native, is a pianist, educator, composer, and liturgical musician. Beginning piano lessons at age 5, Daniel quickly ascended the ranks of pianistic artistry, making his solo concert debut at the Sheldon Concert Hall at age 11, recording a CD with some of St. Louis’ well-respected pianists, and winning local, state, and national competitions. Despite these early successes, caring for his grandfather with Alzheimer’s ignited in Daniel a fascination with neuroscience, memory, and the science of learning, so much so that a career in medicine seemed attractive. 

Though starting college as a Biology Major in Pre-Med, Daniel felt called to pursue music as his vocation after just two inspiring lessons with his undergraduate teacher Alla Voskoboynikova. Since saying ‘yes’ to music, Daniel has performed as a soloist, collaborator, and concerto soloist in Russia, Vienna, Portugal, China, and at the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Italian Embassy, and Powell Symphony Hall. Daniel recently completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Literature from Eastman School of Music. Daniel also holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and The Catholic University of America, respectively. His primary instructors and trusted mentors were Natalya Antonova, Dr. Ivo Kaltchev, and Alla Voskoboynikova, to whom he owes a world of gratitude for shaping his artistry and imagination.

A prizewinner of international and national competitions, Daniel most recently won third place in the Canada International Piano Competition and was selected as a winner of the Artist Presentation Society Competition. Other recent top prizes include the Chautauqua Piano Program Solo Competition and the Lancaster International Piano Competition. He is a two-time winner of the UMSL Concerto Competition and a winner of the Catholic University Concerto Competition. He has been invited as a masterclass clinician for the Washington International Piano Series, and has participated in masterclasses with Leon Fleisher, Olga Kern, Peter Frankl, Yong-Hi Moon, Alexander Gavrylyuk, Lilya Zilbertsein, Malcolm Bilson, William Wolfram, Lori Sims, and Milena Mollova. 

Daniel’s tenure as a secondary piano instructor at Eastman culminated in receiving the Teaching Assistant Prize for Excellence in Teaching. His secondary students have won the University of Rochester Concerto Competition and pursued graduate studies in music at Yale and Temple University.

Daniel’s vision for the future of classical music constitutes making music directly applicable to people’s lives through community engagement. Marrying his loves of music and medicine, he regularly performs live personalized Virtual Bedside Concerts for hospital patients at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY through the Eastman Performing Arts Medicine program. He also established a partnership with Rochester’s Episcopal Senior Life Community at the start of the pandemic lockdown in which he records monthly concerts for the residents. Daniel is also a founding member and Managing Director of the UMSL Summer Keyboard Camp, an annual piano/organ/harpsichord festival which attracts students from many states for a week of innovative instruction.

Currently, Daniel serves as the Coordinator of Liturgical Music for St. Theodore Catholic Church in Flint Hill, MO and maintains an active performing and teaching schedule. In his spare time, Daniel loves to cook, host dinner parties, and dabble in literature on philosophy, learning, and sport psychology.

Classic 107.3 Radio Interview - Host Kathy Lawton Brown talks with Laureen di Bisceglie and pianist Daniel Kuehler about the Artist Presentation Society.