Russian-American Violinist Daniel Kurganov has performed in various parts of the world, and has become a sought-after artist in a range of musical settings. In Chicago, Daniel played with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, working with such conductors as Pierre Boulez, Sir Mark Elder, Kent Nagano, Andrew Grams and Cliff Colnot.  In Zurich, he has played under the baton of Bernard Haitink, Stefan Asbury, Kazuki Yamada and David Zinman, doing joint project with the Tonhalle Orchestra.  Other orchestral engagements include the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (under David Stahl), the Lira Chamber Ensemble (under Paul Dykstra), Concertmaster/Soloist of the DePaul Baroque Ensemble, and the Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim and Daniel Boico. 

In 2010, Daniel toured as soloist with Rudolf Koelman and the ZHdK Strings Chamber Orchestra in Italy.  In the same year, Daniel performed at the Gala concert of the Sion Festival in Switzerland under the direction of Shlomo Mintz.  As part of the “Violins of Hope” project, for these performances, he was loaned a precious violin that was previously played in the Auschwitz concentration camp during WWII.

In recent years, Daniel has spent his summers performing at the Summit Festival in NY, Keshet Eilon Mastercourse in Israel, Chautauqua Festival in NY and the Musicorda Festival in Massachusetts

A native of Minsk, Daniel moved to the United States at an early age, and started his musical education in Chicago. Currently, he is completing his Masters diploma at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK) in Zurich, Switzerland.  He is in the class of Rudolf Koelman (protégé of Jascha Heifetz, and former 1st Concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra). Daniel holds a Bachelors diploma (cum laude) from DePaul School of Music in Chicago.  His past mentors have been Ilya Kaler (1st prizes at the Tchaikovsky, Paganini, and Sibelius International Violin Competitions), Desiree Ruhstrat, Olga Kaler and Alexander Belavsky.  In the Last 4 Years, Daniel has been the recipient of the Phillip Walters Endowment Music Scholarship, the DePaul School of Music Scholarship ("Outstanding Talent"), the DePaul Centennial Scholarship ("Academic Excellence") and the “Freundeskreis Musik der ZHdK” scholarship.

Some of Daniel’s Performances can be viewed on YouTube.