• Biography

      Daniel Brier is the Resident Conductor of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and Music Director & Principal Conductor of Opera Wilmington. In recent seasons, he has conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, Adrian Symphony Orchestra, Whiting Park Festival Orchestra, and St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic. He has also collaborated with a diverse range of artists including Bobby McFerrin, Pablo Sainz Villegas, Rachel Barton Pine, Jennifer Frautschi, and more.

       

      Mr. Brier’s work comfortably spans symphony, opera, and multi-media performances. Now in his eighth season with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, he has conducted the orchestra in numerous programs including subscription masterworks, chamber orchestra, family, education, pops, holiday, movie, and summer parks concerts. Upcoming highlights include performances of Dimitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9, Jonathan Bailey Holland’s Motor City ReMix, Manuel de Falla’s El amor brujo, Gunther Schuller’s A Journey into Jazz, a production of The Nutcracker, a collaboration with singer/songwriter Nashon Holloway, and a live to picture performance of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. In his third season as Music Director & Principal Conductor of Opera Wilmington, Mr. Brier leads a festival of orchestral songs by Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Florence Price, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss as well as a full production of Die Zauberflöte. As an opera conductor, he recently conducted productions of Puccini’s La Bohéme, Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, and Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. As a movie conductor, he has conducted live to picture performances of the original Star Wars trilogy (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, The Return of the Jedi), How to Train Your Dragon, Jaws, A Jungle Book, and more.

       

      As an educator, Mr. Brier has held teaching positions at the University of Michigan String Preparatory Academy, Kalamazoo Kids In Tune, Orion Chamber Music Society, and more. While in graduate school, he was a graduate student instructor at the University of Michigan. In recent years, he filled sabbaticals at Western Michigan University and Andrews University. During the 2021-22 season, he will guest conduct the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra.

       

      Previously, Mr. Brier was Interim Music Director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, founding Music Director of the Spectrum Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, and conductor of the University of Michigan Orpheus Singers. In 2010, he was awarded a prize for his “exceptional conducting” during the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic’s International Conducting Competition. Later, in 2012, he received an invitation to study with John Nelson at the Orchestre de chambre de Paris. Mr. Brier has conducted in masterclasses with Giancarlo Guerrero, Hugh Wolff, Jorma Panula, Alexander Polishchuk, Victor Yampolsky, Carl Topilow, and Ragnar Bohlin.

       

      Mr. Brier received his musical training at the University of Michigan’s renowned conducting program earning degrees in orchestral conducting with Kenneth Kiesler and choral conducting with Dr. Jerry Blackstone. While at the University of Michigan, he served as an assistant conductor for the world premiere recording of Milhaud’s L’Orestie d'Eschyle conducted by Kenneth Kiesler. Recorded live on Naxos, the album earned a GRAMMY® nomination in 2015. He is a recipient of the Julian and Vera McIntosh scholarship for promising young musicians and conductors, the Dr. Charlene Archibeque scholarship for choral conductors, and the Dorothy Greenwald scholarship.

       

      Updated August 2021

      *Please disregard all previous materials

    • 2021-2022 Concert Season

      Conducting Schedule

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra + Nashon Holloway

      Park Concert with Nashon Holloway

      7:30 PM July 17, 2021

      Nashon Holloway, Singer-songwriter

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra + Farmer's Alley Theater

      Broadway in the Park

      Sunday, July 25, 2021 @ 7:30 PM

       

      Selections from Chicago, Phantom of the Opera, Girl Crazy, Cabaret, Carousel, The Music Man, Into the Woods, and more.

      Opera Wilmington Under the Stars

      Songs from America

      Wednesday, July 28, 2021 @ 7:00 PM

      John Dooley, Baritone

      Elizabeth Stovall, Soprano

      Jemeesa Yarborough, Soprano

      Opera Wilmington Orchestra

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      Program:

      Aaron Copland: Old American Songs

      Samuel Barber: Knoxville Summer of 1915

      Florence Price: Hold Fast To Dreams

      Florence Price: My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord

      Opera Wilmington Under the Stars

      A Night in Vienna

      Thursday, July 29, 2021 @ 7:00 PM

      Nancy King, Soprano

      Jeffrey Jones, Baritone

      Shannon Kessler Dooley, Soprano

      Opera Wilmington Orchestra

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      Program:

      Richard Wagner: Siegfried Idyll

      Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs

      Gustav Mahler: Selections from Des Knaben Wunderhorn

      Opera Wilmington Under the Stars

      Viva Italia!

      Friday, July 30, 2021 @ 7 PM

      Jemeesa Yarborough, Soprano

      Jonathan Kaufman, Tenor

      Jeffrey Jones, Baritone

      Shannon Kessler Dooley, Soprano

      Elizabeth Stovall, Soprano

       

      Program to include...

      Giuseppe Verdi: Selections from Rigoletto

      Giuseppe Verdi: Selections from La Traviata

      Pietro Mascagni: Intermezzo from Cavelleria Rusticana

      Giacomo Puccini: Selections from La Bohème

      Giacomo Puccini: ​"O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi

       

      Kalamazoo Symphony @ Gilmore Car Museum

      Beethoven's 9th

      August 14, 2021

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Kalamazoo Symphony Festival Chorus

      Julian Kuerti, Conductor

      Daniel Brier, Chorus Master

       

      Aaron Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man

      Modest Mussorgsky: Coronation Scene from Boris Godunov

      Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

      Kalamazoo Symphony Family Discovery

      Spooky Symphony

      October 31, 2021

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      Johann Sebastian Bach (orch. Brier): Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

      Bernard Hermann: Psycho--A Short Suite for Orchestra

      Manuel de Falla: El amor brujo

      Kalamazoo Symphony + Ballet Arts Ensemble

      The Nutcracker

      December 2-5, 2021

      Ballet Arts Ensemble

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Op. 71

      Kalamazoo Symphony Masterworks

      Holland, Bach, and Shostakovich

      January 22, 2022

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Dongyoung "Jake" Shim, Violin

      Keila Wakao, Violin

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      Jonathan Bailey Holland: Motor City ReMix

      Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043

      Dimitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Major, Op. 70

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Craft Music: Back On Tap!

      February 9, 2022

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Mark Guthrie, Timpani

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      Strauss, Jr.: Die Fledermaus -- Overture

      Druschetzky: Concerto for Six Timpani

      Strauss, Jr.: ​Unter Donner und Blitz Polka

      Bial: Gambrinus Polka

      Price: Adoration

      Coleridge-Taylor: Clarinet Quintet

      Strauss, Jr.: "Als flotter geist" from Die Zigeunerbaron

      Kreisler: Liebeslied

      Kreisler: Liebesfreud

      Kalamazoo Symphony

      E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

      February 17-18, 2022

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      John Williams: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

      Wheaton College Conservatory of Music

      Schubert, Ives, and Bates

      February 26, 2022

      Wheaton College Symphony Orchestra

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished"

      Charles Ives: The Unanswered Question

      Mason Bates: The B-Sides

      Kalamazoo Symphony Youth Concerts

      A Journey Into Jazz

      March 14-18

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60

      Gunther Schuller: ​A Journey Into Jazz

      Neil Hefti: Repetition

      Rufus Ferguson: Swingin' Serenade (World Premiere)

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      The Science of Sound

      April 21, 2022

      Air Zoo Science and Aviation Museum

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      An exploratory program featuring works by Nikolaj Rimsky-Korsakov, Valerie Coleman, Florence Price, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, and more.

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Portage Senior Center Opening Celebration

      May 20, 2022

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      A chamber orchestra program featuring works by Giacomo Puccini, Johann Strauss, Florence Price, and Samuel Coleridge Taylor.

      Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra

      Mahler: Symphony No. 2

      May 20, 2022

      May 21, 2022

      Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra

      Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus

      Jessica Rivera, Soprano

      Susan Platts, Mezzo-Soprano

      Marcelo Lehninger, Conductor

      Daniel Brier, Off-Stage Conductor

       

      Mahler: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Patriotic Pops

      July 2, 2022

      Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra

      Legends Drum and Bugle Corps

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      Williams: The Star Spangled Banner

      Hailstork: Three Spirituals—3. Oh Freedom

      Ellington: Three Black Kings—3. Martin Luther King

      Williams: Music from Lincoln

      Steffe (arr. Wilhousky): Battle Hymn of the Republic

      Gould: American Salute

      Sousa: Washington Post March

      Sousa: Semper Fidelis

      Berlin (arr. Roy Ringwald): God Bless America

      Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture

      Sousa: Stars and Stripes

      Opera Wilmington

      Die Zauberflöte

      July 23, 2022

      July 25, 2022

      July 30, 2022

      August 1, 2022

      Opera Wilmington

      Daniel Brier, Conductor

       

      Mozart: Die Zauberflöte

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