"These performances definitely have a live feel, though there's no sense of the facile- only depth caught on the wing. Sometimes Lippel dwells indulgently in the moment, as in the Grave of the A minor Sonata or the Sarabande of the A major Suite; at other times the music is allowed to flow naturally, as in the final movements of those works. Looseness and tension are fluently articulated within a flexible, expressive framework. An impressive release, then. Not a definitive statement- nor is it meant to be. Full marks to Lippel for daring to show a little humanity." Wiiliam Yeomen, Review of Bach CD, Gramophone, May 2006

Guitarist Daniel Lippel is active as a soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist. Recent and upcoming performances include a solo tour of Germany, recitals in Istanbul, Philadelphia, and New York, and chamber music performances on Helsinki's Musica Nova Festival, the Macau Arts Festival in China, and on the Mostly Mozart Festival at New York's Alice Tully Hall. Lippel's recordings have garnered him critical acclaim from Gramophone, American Record Guide, Guitar Review, Music Web International, and several other publications. Lippels has also appeared in recital on the Guitars International Distinguished Artists Series at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Music from the Forefront Series at Bowling Green State University, Boston Classical Guitar Society, and Ft. Worth Guitar Festival at the Ft. Worth Modern Art Museum.

He is very involved in the contemporary classical music scene and performed as soloist in Gyorgy Kurtag's Grabstein fur Stephan for guitar and small orchestra for the gala opening concert of Troy, NY's new concert hall, EMPAC. Lippel is a regular member of ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), and Flexible Music, having performed with these ensembles at Lincoln Center's Rose Penthouse for the Mostly Mozart Festival, Miller Theatre in New York, Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Pick-Staiger Hall at Northwestern University, Madsen Hall at BYU, and Hertz Hall at UC Berkeley.

Lippel has had the opportunity to work with some of the eminent composers of our time, including Mario Davidovsky, Phillippe Manoury, Magnus Lindberg, and Augusta Read Thomas, and he performed in a Carnegie Hall celebration of Elliott Carter's music conducted by Oliver Knussen. With other ensembles, he has performed at Carnegie's Zankel and Weill Halls, Merkin Hall, Sydney Festival (Australia), Princeton University, SUNY Buffalo, New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes, GFA Festival (Oberlin College) and on the Cooperstown, Manchester, Monadnock, Finger Lakes, and Norfolk Chamber Music Festivals. One of the aspects of his career that Lippel finds the most gratifying is close collaboration with composers; he has commissioned and premiered over fifty solo and chamber works by established and emerging composers, many of which he has recorded on his independent label, New Focus Recordings. As an educator, Lippel is particularly interested in demystifying the contemporary repertoire for guitarists, and the guitar for composers.

He has given guitar masterclasses at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Syracuse University, Northern Illinois University, and Bowling Green State University and guest lecture presentations to composition departments at the University of Texas at Austin, University of California at Davis, Columbia College (Chicago), New York University, University of North Texas, and Manhattan School of Music. His performances have been broadcast on several radio stations including KCRW Santa Monica, WQXR New York, and WCLV Cleveland, and his recordings have been internationally syndicated by WGBH Radio Boston's Art of the States. Lippel won first prizes in the Stafford (England) Guitar Competition, ASTA Competition, and Boston Guitar Societys Guitar Competition.

Lippel has been awarded grants by the American Music Center, Meet the Composer, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Mikhashoff Trust for New Music, and LUSES Foundation for the Support of Finnish Music. He has toured four continents and recorded extensively with Fat Cat Record's indie rock band Mice Parade, and was a member of the Zvi Migdal Tango Ensemble, with whom he performed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mr. Lippel was on faculty teaching classical guitar at Bowling Green State University from 1999-2001. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Manhattan School of Music, under the guidance of David Starobin. Lippel's former teachers include Jason Vieaux, Ricardo Iznaola, John Homquist, David Leisner, Steve Aron, and Nicholas Goluses.

Composers who have written solo or ensemble works for Lippel include Peter Gilbert, Orianna Webb, Ryan Streber, Adam B. Silverman, Vineet Shende, John Link, Mikel Kuehn, Reiko Fueting, Soonjung Suh, Douglas Boyce, Ethan Wickman, Nico Muhly, Seung-Ah Oh, Chris Cerrone, Daniel Vezza, Harold OIiver, Allen Brings, Andrew Waggoner, Steve Ricks, Patricia Morehead, Nizan Leibovitch, Pablo Santiago Chin, Edgar Guzman, Wilfredo Terrazas, David Laganella, Ross Bauer, Carl Schimmel, and Alek Stevens.

Daniel Lippel has also premiered works by several composers including Phillippe Manoury, Nils Vigeland, Dina Koston, Marcos Balter, and Joe Pereira.