"If a trumpet’s typical sound is a bright, shining light, then Daniel's sound is the dark, moody shadow it casts."

Daniel Kocurek is a musician, first and foremost. Not to be confined by genre or style, Daniel is a trumpeter, flugelhorn player, conductor, vocalist, song-writer, and arranger. Originally from rural Oregon, Daniel's travels have taken him across the USA, Canada, and Europe. Being self-taught for many years, he has spent much of his life learning various musical styles and mindfully finding new ways to cultivate and share his own voice. Music, to Daniel, is a means to communicate and awaken the whole spectrum of emotions: the ones we love, yearn for, choose to forget, or didn't even know were possible to feel. Music reminds us of what was, what is, and gives us a glimpse of what can be.

 

Daniel's nomadic experience of living in different countries and musical cultures has developed his musical palette into a nuanced mix of classical, minimalist, improvised, pop/rock, electronic, and cinematic music. Daniel grew up in a marginalized community, and this drives him to keep searching for unique ways to connect with more audiences through music, and also to create meaningful partnerships with social causes and organizations.

Despite being relatively young, Daniel has had many "mini-careers": he has performed throughout the USA as lead trumpet with the renowned brass quintet Dallas Brass, worked as principal trumpet with professional orchestras in the US and Canada, toured as a recitalist with pianist Christine Eggert, been a full-time university professor and conductor, and has recorded for Hollywood motion pictures. Additionally, Daniel has played internationally in hundreds of musical theatre shows with TONY Award-winning artists and companies, appeared with some of the most decorated big bands in Europe, and even performed at the BMI Latin Music Showcase with GRAMMY Award-nominated bands.

Currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark, Daniel has played trumpet and flugelhorn with groups like the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra, the Royal Danish Brass, and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He can also be found on stage backing up renowned music stars Teitur, Andreas Odbjerg, Wafande, Sinne Eeg, and Sanne Salomonsen. He is a regular performer for many musical theatre and ballet shows, including productions at Musikhuset Aarhus, Tivolis Konsertsal, and the Royal Danish Opera house. 

In 2022, Daniel and pianist Christine Eggert followed their shifting musical curiosities to form LUNARATI. Based on their mutual love of the moon, LUNARATI is their metamorphosis from performing primarily "classical" music, into playing immersive and atmospheric programs that include their own original music and improvisations, as well as re:imaginations of beautiful music across many genres. Released in 2023, LUNARATI's debut EP, MIRROR IN THE MIRROR, was the beginning of this exploration. Following the EP's successful release have been thousands of listeners from over 40 different countries -- many of the listeners feeling compelled to share stories of how the music helped them through grief and loss, or that it helped them feel safe and at ease in a world so full of strife. This is the goal of their music: to help people to slow down, reflect, and access those places in the mind that can be so hard to reach in today's busy world. 

Daniel is a Yamaha Performing Artist and a Wedge Mouthpiece Artist.