Dan Trueman is a composer, fiddler, and electronic musician.
He began studying violin at the age of 4, and decades later, after a chance encounter, fell in love with the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle, an instrument and tradition that has deeply affected all of his work, whether as a fiddler, a composer, or musical explorer. His explorations have ranged from the oldest to the newest technologies; Dan co-founded the Princeton Laptop Orchestra, the first ensemble of its size and kind that has led to the formation of similarly inspired ensembles across the world, from Oslo to Dublin, to Stanford and Bangkok. Dan's compositional work reflects this complex and broad range of activities, exploring rhythmic connections between traditional dance music and machines, for instance, or engaging with the unusual phrasing, tuning and ornamentation of the traditional Norwegian music while trying to discover new music that is singularly inspired by, and only possible with, new digital instruments that he designs and constructs.
Dan has worked with many groups and musicians, including Trollstilt and QQQ, the American Composers Orchestra, So Percussion, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the Brentano and Daedelus string quartets, the Crash Ensemble, many wonderful fiddlers, and has performed across America, Ireland, and Norway. Dan's work has been recognized by fellowships and grants from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations, among others.
In 2014 Dan released an album Lagdú with Ireland's Caoimhín O'Raghallaigh which garnered high international acclaim.
He is Professor of Music at Princeton University, where he teaches counterpoint, electronic music, and composition.
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Siobhan Long, The Irish Times ★★★★★“Oh so downright magnificent ”
The New York Times“The dazzling results mixed George Crumb's knack for unearthly timbres, Alvin Lucier's infinitesimally fine gradations of tone and the fierce creative audacity of Jimi Hendrix. ”