Daniel Edmonds is a musical director, composer, music supervisor, arranger and pianist. His work in the theatre, on the concert stage, for the screen and in the studio has won him great acclaim. As a performer and writer, he is able to move effortlessly between genres with skill and sensitivity.
Daniel wrote the music, co-wrote the lyrics and was the executive music producer of Lea Salonga’s latest single Dream Again. Proceeds of the song benefit Covid-19 charities including The Actor’s Fund. Daniel also performed with Lea and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in Lea Salonga In Concert, which aired in 2020 as part of PBS Great Performances. The concert also spawned a live album.
In the theatre, Daniel was the musical director of the world premiere musicals King Kong, Strictly Ballroom and Dream Lover. For Strictly Ballroom, he worked closely with the film’s original creative team, including Baz Luhrmann. Daniel was the originating music director of King Kong in Australia, which was an ambitious and multi-year collaboration with an international creative team and artists including Marius De Vries, Sarah McLachlan, Massive Attack, Guy Garvey and The Avalanches. He was also the music director of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which won the Helpmann Award for Best Musical in 2018. Other theatrical credits include Chicago, Pippin, Fame and Hairspray. He was the musical supervisor for Only Heaven Knows and You & Me, and in 2019 was the music director of the 2019 Adelaide Cabaret Festival Gala, working closely with Julia Zemiro.
He has written music for screen and stage, including the short films Butcherbird and Monolith (both directed by Dave Paterson), The Suitor (directed by Kate Riedl), as well as for Guy Edmonds and Matt Zeremes’ feature film Super Awesome. Daniel wrote original music and songs for La Boite’s production of The Wind In The Willows, which toured nationally. As a composer and songwriter, he has a number of new projects currently in development.
Daniel has appeared on stages in Australia, New Zealand, London and New York with acclaimed artists such as Lea Salonga, Caroline O’Connor, David Campbell, Meow Meow, Paul Capsis, Simon Burke, Rhonda Burchmore, Johnny Manuel, Tim Draxl, Michael Falzon & Swing On This, Courtney Act, Marcus Corowa, Esther Hannaford, Lucy Maunder and Mat Verevis. He has also recorded and produced numerous albums, and given masterclasses both at home and abroad.
Based in New York City.
Music director, composer, conductor, arranger, piano player, sometime singer and wannabe keytarist.
Writer and creator.
Tech enthusiast and ex-Apple Certified Engineer.
Traveler, watcher, listener, ruminator.
Daniel's trajectory has been a thrilling and, at times, unexpected one.
Starting keyboard at the age of three-and-a-half, he was trained by Yamaha as a young composer and wrote his first arrangement (for the school brass band) at the age of ten.
What started out as classical piano training morphed into jazz, pop, latin and music for stage and screen. Not afraid of exploring the contemporary while honouring the classics, or finding ways to fuse music with technology and the other creative arts, Daniel's training and experience to date is fertile ground on which to grow the next big idea.