COND-211
Douglas McRay Daniels
Position
Assistant Professor
Affiliated Departments
Faculty Bio E-Mail
Personal Websites
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Douglas McRay Daniels is the music director for the Fall River Symphony Orchestra and adjunct lecturer at Tufts and Roger Williams universities. He currently serves as instructor of music at Gann Academy and was the chair of the Arts Department from 2012 through 2016. Among his many accomplishments, Daniels is the founder and artistic director of the popular televised 3rd Sundays @ 3 Chamber Music Series, which highlighted groups throughout the Greater Boston area and across the country.
In 2017, Daniels was honored by the Rhode Island Music Educators Association (RIMEA) and invited to conduct the RIMEA Junior All-State Orchestra. He is a sought-after festival adjudicator. As a composer, Daniels’s Reverend E.L. Knight for solo tuba piece was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s principal tubist, Michael Roylance, during the 2007 and 2013 Tanglewood seasons.
Guided by a belief that music is a common ground that bridges differences of humanity, Daniels is particularly interested in engaging young and new audiences. Raised on a farm with 11 siblings in southern Alabama, he echoes his humble beginnings by sharing his passion for music-making in an approachable, yet distinguished manner. He makes his home in Medford, Massachusetts, with his daughters, Zoë and Zaila.
Career Highlights
- Music director of Roger Williams University Ensemble, Tufts University Pep Band, Gann Academy, and Fall River Symphony Orchestra; past music director or the Bentley University Chamber Orchestra
- Conductor of Nashoba Youth Orchestra, 2007–2009; 3rd Sundays @ 3 Chamber Music Series, 2009–2014; and Philips Exeter Academy, 2005–2007
- Associate conductor of Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra, 2009–2014
- Assistant conductor of University of Nebraska, Omaha, Orchestra, 2002–2003
- Guest conductor of Tufts University Wind Ensemble, 2020; Tufts University Jazz Orchestra, 2018; Northeastern University Jazz Ensemble, 2018; Junior All-State Orchestra Rhode Island, 2017; and Tufts University Wind Ensemble, 2017, among many others
Education
- M.M., University of Nebraska, orchestral conducting, 2003
- M.M., Boston Conservatory, trombone performance, 2000
- M.M., Boston Conservatory, music education, 2000
- B.A., University of Montevallo, trombone performance, 1998
In Their Own Words