Daniel Daroca ~ Thinker, artist, pedagogue, artistic consultant

Daniel Daroca is an artist who expresses himself as a pianist, writer, and composer. His musical credits include the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, as well as solo recitals in Taiwan, Austria, Spain, Puerto Rico, and the United States. A graduate of the University of Miami, he pursued doctoral studies at the Manhattan School of Music and later at the Folkwang Universität der Künste in Essen, and the Konservatorium Wien Privat Universität. Mr. Daroca is a recipient of the Alban Berg Stiftung fellowship, a fellowship of the Viennese Musical Institutions of Higher Learning, and a Rotary Foundation scholarship for studies in Vienna. He is Musical Director of The Opera Atelier and of La Zarzuela, Inc.

Throughout his career, Daroca has been deeply involved in music education, collaborating with renowned institutions such as the Juilliard School, the City University of New York at Brooklyn College, Kean University, the New York City Board of Education, and the Newark Board of Education. In Miami, collaborations have included Barry University, Florida International University, and the New World School of the Arts. Other collaborations include Opera de Colombia (Otello by Verdi) and the Wexford Opera Festival (Pénélope by Fauré).

In 2019, Daroca ventured into opera composition with "The not so Little Prince," designed for children performers. His theatrical works, including "A Night in Paris with Chopin and Malibran," have received praise and continue to be performed in various venues. "A Night in Paris", based on the life of Countess Merlin (née Mercedes Jaruco), was premiered at the Steinway Piano Gallery, and received another performance in its second version at the Coral Gables Museum in September 2018, as part of The Opera Atelier cultural series “Enchanted Evenings”. This work constitutes the starting point for the libretto of Daroca's new opera "Voyage to Cuba", expanded to include besides an act in Paris, a second act reflecting Mercedes Jaruco's sojourn in her native Cuba, after fifteen years of absence.