About this Artist

Conductor and pianist DANIEL ALFRED WACHS emerged on the international scene following his debut with the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, leading a world premiere by Toshio Hosokawa at the Grosses Festspielhaus. Wachs has served as Assistant Conductor to Osmo Vänskä at the Minnesota Orchestra, at the National Orchestra of France under Kurt Masur, and has prepared the Rotterdam Philharmonic for Valery Gergiev. Recently, Wachs served as cover conductor for the Houston Symphony. He is a frequent guest conductor at New York City Ballet.

Wachs was auditioned by Zubin Mehta at the age of eight and was a student of the late Enrique Barenboim. He subsequently pursued studies at the Zürich Academy as well as the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School. He has participated at such festivals at Aspen, Tanglewood, and Verbier. His interpretations of Mozart are especially lauded, the St. Paul Pioneer Press writing “Wachs proved a revelation, delivering a technically impeccable, emotionally powerful performance of two Mozart piano concertos and a pair of solo works…”

An accomplished opera conductor and collaborator, Wachs has led Albert Herring, Così fan tutte, The Impresario, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, and Amahl and the Night Visitors, acts from La traviata and Die Fledermaus, and operas by Pasatieri. He has served as assistant conductor at the Cincinnati Opera and for the French premiere of Bernstein’s Candide at the Théâtre du Châtelet, a new production directed by Robert Carsen.