Biography

Daniel Colalillo is a New York based classical pianist. As a soloist, he is known for delivering strong commanding performances and unique interpretations with a depth of musical integrity. He has been lauded by “The New York Times.”

Following his 2008 Concerto debut performance of Beethoven’s 2nd Concerto with MK Symphony; Daniel has gone on to perform with the Purchase Symphony Orchestra, The Spring Hill Orchestra playing Tchaikovsky’s 1st Piano Concerto, and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Daniel has given solo recitals at venues such as: Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Bargemusic, Symphony Space,  Baruch College: PAC, Purchase: PAC, Columbia University, Princeton University, and has performed in various cities such as: Philadelphia, San Francisco, Nashville, Toronto, Montreal, and more.

Daniel’s dedication to new music led him to many premieres such as Julian Bennett Holmes – 1st Piano Sonata (2017), James G. Lindsay’s Metal Destroyer Etude (2017), and in a recently gave the Nashville premiere of “I Still Play” by (Pulitzer Prize Winning Composer) John Adams. While at Mannes he was selected to perform with MACE (Mannes American Composers Ensemble) directed by composer Lowell Liebermann (Grammy Nominee). The MACE performances included works by Louis Karchin, Shulamit Ran, Lewis Spratlan, Ned Rorem, and a concert version premier of Tobias Picker’s ballet score “Awakenings.” Daniel also took this opportunity to work closely with Lowell Liebermann studying his piano works.

In 2014 Daniel graduated with his Masters in Piano Performance at Mannes College: The New School for Music where he studied with Thomas Sauer (Student of Jorge Bolet) and Eteri Andjaparidze (Prize Winner of Tchaikovsky Competition.) Daniel also received a Bachelor of Music from Purchase: Conservatory of Music where he studied with Paul Ostrovsky (Student of Emil Gilels.) He has also had additional studies with MacArthur Fellow (Genius Grant) Jeremy Denk. Daniel began playing piano at the late age of 15.

Apart from his solo career Daniel is an active chamber musician, accompanist, and teacher. He is the Artistic Director of Classical Keys, where he runs a concert series in New Jersey and NYC. As a teacher he maintains a private studio in upper Manhattan; and as an accompanist he has been on staff at Columbia University’s Barnard College and SUNY Purchase and has done work at Manhattan School of Music, Mannes, The Juilliard School, and for Astral Artists in Philadelphia.

Daniel’s debut album “Mostly Scriabin” was released in 2017 and has been featured on radio shows such as WWFM (Trenton, NJ) and WXNA FM (Nashville, TN.) CDs and downloads are on cdbaby, iTunes, and Amazon.

He recently became a Musician Owner and is on the Council of Groupmuse, which is a series of chamber music house concerts  in the US and abroad.