Daniel Saur is a founding member of the professional percussion ensemble Global Percussion Network (GPN). With GPN he has given performances, seminars, and master classes throughout Europe, North America, and Asia, including radio and television broadcasts in Sweden, USA, and Japan. GPN has performed at festivals all over the world, premiered countless pieces, played entire concerts on ice instruments, and even performed on a Jet Fighter from the Royal Swedish Air Force.
Norrbotten-NEO is one of Sweden’s leading ensembles for contemporary music where Daniel has been a full-time member since 2008. NEO has a core ensemble of seven musicians: flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, viola and cello. The ensemble focuses on commissioning new works from the leading composers of Sweden and Europe. Daniel’s employment in NEO also includes serving as timpanist in the Norrbotten Chamber Orchestra and percussionist in the Piteå Chamber Opera Company. Because of these diverse ensembles, Daniel regularly performs everything from Mozart symphonies, to contemporary music, to multi-media opera shows.
As a soloist, Daniel regularly commissions and premieres pieces for both solo percussion and percussion with pre-recorded audio/electronics. He promotes percussion in the chamber music setting by working closely with composers.
Since 2001 Daniel has been the Director of Percussion Studies at the School of Music at Luleå University of Technology. Prior to this engagement he ran the Percussive Institute at Framnäs Folkhögskola from 2004-2007. Additionally, during 2007 Daniel had a 6-month residency at Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas (UNICACH) in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico.
As a composer Daniel has received numerous commissions and focuses his compositions for mallet percussion and percussion-based chamber music. His compositions have been premiered in Sweden, USA, Argentina, Japan and Mexico. Daniels CD “Scattered Thoughts” was released in 2015, containing six compositions for percussion, and “The Labyrinth”, containing music for clarinet and percussion will be released during 2020.
Daniel is a proud endorser of Zildjian cymbals and Innovative Percussion mallets.
