Daniel Bard

Two-time Chalmers-award winner Daniel Bard was born in Haifa, Israel, where he began his violin studies. At 13, he moved to Toronto where he studied with David Zafer and Lorand Fenyves. Further studies took him to Peter Oundjian at Yale University and David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Daniel is deeply passionate about the chamber orchestra setting. Invited by Tabea Zimmermann to guest lead Camerata Bern, he has since directed numerous projects with various groups such as Camerata Salzburg and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. He regularly leads the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, where he was a member from 2009 to 2016. In 2017, he became concertmaster of the Basel Chamber Orchestra, and in 2021, upon the invitation from Iván Fischer, Daniel joined the Budapest Festival Orchestra as concertmaster.

Daniel co-founded Piano Trio Mondrian, which performed from 2007 to 2019. The trio won first prize at the 2007 International Chamber Music Competition in Trieste and performed at renowned venues such as the Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and La Fenice in Venice. In 2009, they were awarded the BBT (Borletti-Buitoni Trust) fellowship. Daniel is a founding member of the Israeli Chamber Project, established in 2007, a chamber group active in Israel and performing at major venues across the USA.

Daniel loves to play the viola and often takes this role in chamber music concerts. He has also performed as soloist on viola with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

Daniel is passionate about mentoring the next generation of musicians, having led instrumental and chamber music classes at the Amsterdam Conservatory, Jerusalem Music Centre, and at the University of Toronto.

He plays a 2020 violin by Paul Belin and a James Tubbs bow, generously gifted by the late Bud Beyer, his inspiring mentor.