Daniel Temkin has been writing music since age thirteen. One of his earliest compositions, "The Realm of Solitude," was premiered in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall as part of the Cecilian Music Society's Young Artist Competition, and he has been a finalist on numerous occasions in the ASCAP Young Composers Competition. He is a recipient of the Theodore Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award, a 2010 Earshot Fellowship, and an ASCAPLUS Award. Daniel was also selected as a winner in the NEC Honors Ensemble Composition Competition and the Buffalo Philharmonic Young Composer Competition.

In 2008 his chamber work "Floating Amidst..." was premiered under the baton of the New York Youth Symphony's Ryan McAdams, and his marimba solo "Expansive Horizons" was arranged for the acclaimed MusicCity Mystique percussion group. In 2009, his work "Wistfully Reminiscing" was premiered by pianist Qing Jiang to a capacity audience in Los Angeles's Bing Theatre; the performance was subsequently broadcast on both the internet and LA radio.

In 2010 Daniel's song cycle of E.E. Cummings poetry, your little voice..., will be co- premiered by four sopranos in New York, New Jersey, Boston, and Chicago. In addition, his Five Bagatelles will be performed by Trio-ING in Boston's Jordan Hall, and he will have premiers of commissioned works by the UNLV Brass Ensemble (March and Sing) and the Rutgers University Choir (Two Forest Songs). Daniel will also have performances with the Nashville Symphony and the Rutgers Symphony Orchestra (Regenerations), as well as with the Buffalo Philharmonic (Rolling River).

Originally a percussionist, Daniel is an experienced performer. He has performed in Carnegie Hall on numerous occasions with the New York Youth Symphony, and he has been hired for performances with both the Orchestra of St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, and the Mostly Mozart Festival's Riverside Choral Society. Daniel has performed in masterclass for many leading percussionists and he has worked under conductors David Zinman, James Conlon, Leonard Slatkin, Grant Llewellyn, Rossen Milanov, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and Hugh Wolff. He is featured on the world premier recording of Irwin Bazelon's "Bazz Ma' Tazz" (Albany Records) and he has worked with American composers John Corigliano, Gunther Schuller, and Christopher Rouse, to prepare performances of their music. Daniel has also performed chamber music with soloists Orli Shaham and Sarah Chang.

A theory instructor and composition fellow of the Brevard Music Center, he is also an alumnus of the Eastern and Aspen Music Festivals. Daniel studied percussion with Chris Deviney of the Philadelphia Orchestra and marimba virtuoso She-e Wu. He has studied composition with Charles Fussell, Kevin Puts, Robert Aldridge, and Sydney Hodkinson, and he is currently a graduate composition fellow at the New England Conservatory studying with Michael Gandolfi.