Daniel Saenz leads a multi-faceted career as a performing artist, educator, and entrepreneur. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Cello at the Sam Houston State University School of Music, where he teaches an international class of cello majors, coaches chamber music, and is a member of the Kolonneh Chamber Players.
Additionally, he is the Executive Director of Brazos Music, a nonprofit whose mission is to build partnerships in the greater Houston metropolitan area through mentoring programs for both music educators and at-risk students. He is a certified Suzuki Method teacher and during the summer serves on the faculty of Space City Suzuki Institute in Houston, Texas.
As a featured concerto soloist, Daniel has performed with orchestras throughout the United States, France, and Bolivia in concerti by Dvořák, Saint-Saëns, Haydn, José Bragato, and American composer Carter Pann’s The High Songs. He is an advocate for modern music and has performed an array of newly commissioned solo and chamber repertoire with organizations such as Aperio: Music of the Americas (where he serves on the board of directors), The Foundation for Modern Music, the University of Missouri Kansas City Musica Aestas Composition Festival, and the SoundSCAPE Composition and Performance Exchange in Italy. As a visiting artist, he has performed in recitals and master classes throughout South America and Europe, most recently at the Rio International Cello Encounters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Schlern International Music Festival in Völs am Schlern, and the National Arts Institute (UNA) in Buenos Aires.
A dedicated teacher, Daniel teaches an array of gifted students throughout Houston, nationally, and internationally. His students are regularly accepted to the Texas All-State Orchestra, admitted to competitive summer festivals, undergraduate and graduate music programs, and are employed as full-time educators throughout Texas and nationally. Daniel is also the founder of the TexStrings Camp (http://www.texstrings.com), which enrolls over 100 pre-college students per year in preparation for auditions, competitions, and performances.
Daniel earned his BM from the Eastman School of Music, his MM from Rice University, and his DMA from the University of Houston. His teachers include Pamela Frame, Desmond Hoebig, Tanya Carey, and the late Vagram Saradjian. He presently lives in Houston with his wife, coloratura soprano Yuri Maria Saenz, and his daughter Lila.