Dan Flanagan - The Bow and the Brush - 14 Premieres for Unaccompanied Violin (2023)

Dan Flanagan has built a multifaceted career as a soloist and orchestral musician, performing concertos with orchestras in California and recitals throughout the United States and Europe. Flanagan currently serves as Concertmaster of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, Concertmaster of West Edge Opera, and Instructor of Violin at University of California, Berkeley. The 2022-23 season includes solo recitals in New York City, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Sacramento, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Rome, Perugia, London, and Paris. His program, The Bow and the Brush, includes twenty-three newly composed solo violin pieces, inspired by paintings and sculptures. Sixteen of these pieces were premiered at Opera America’s National Opera Center in New York City on October 3rd, 2022, and fourteen of them are included in this album. He makes his Carnegie Hall debut in 2024.

A dedicated orchestral player, Flanagan has performed as concertmaster with the Oakland Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, California Symphony, California Musical Theater, Festival Opera of Walnut Creek, Symphony San Jose, Modesto Symphony, Opera Paralléle, Merced Symphony and Symphony Napa Valley. He performs regularly with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet and records film, video game and television soundtracks with the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra. Frequently featured as soloist with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Modesto Symphony, Flanagan has also performed with the American River Chamber Orchestra, Bear Valley Symphony, Reno Baroque Ensemble, UC Davis Symphony and the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra. His YouTube channel was recommended by San Francisco Classical Voice, KDFC and The Strad, and has received thousands of views.

As a chamber musician, Flanagan has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Sacramento, the Oregon Bach Festival, Earplay, Melody of China, Midsummer Mozart Chamber Players, Gold Coast Chamber Players, and has collaborated with pianists Leon Fleisher and Jon Nakamatsu. A founding member of the Farallon Quintet, with whom he has performed throughout Northern California, he commissioned and premiered numerous works, several of which can be heard on their CD, Farallon Quintet Originals. As a member of the Eco Ensemble, he performs regularly at Cal Performances, performed at La Biennale in Venice, Italy, and was featured in Strings Magazine. He recently founded Trio Solano, performing string trio repertoire throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Flanagan plays on a violin made in 1840 by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, once owned by the celebrated American virtuoso, Albert Spalding, and he collects original artwork by French Impressionists and contemporary California artists. His extensive collection of antique concert programs and photos has been presented at numerous universities and was featured in a documentary on the legendary Czech violinists for Czech Television.

In addition to teaching at University of California, Berkeley, Flanagan was Lecturer of Violin at University of California, Davis, from 2007 to 2017. In 2008, he founded Sacramento School of Music, where he served as Director and Instructor of Violin until 2014.

Flanagan’s early studies took place in New Jersey and New York City, followed by high school at Interlochen Arts Academy. He holds a BM from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a MM from the University of Oregon, where he was a Graduate Teaching Fellow. His teachers include Linda Cerone, Charles Castleman, Lewis Kaplan, Hal Grossman and Fritz Gearhart.