Gaia Daniel

Gaia Daniel is a 15-year-old pianist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. A third generation of musicians from Florence in Italy, she began playing piano at age 7. She studies with Dr. Yakov Kasman. Gaia was named a‘25-’26 Fellow of NPR’sFrom the Top program. Since her orchestral debut at age 11, she has made solo appearances with several orchestras, including the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra, the Dakota Valley Symphony, the Golden Valley Orchestra, and the Minnetonka Symphony Orchestra.

Gaia was a top prize winner of numerous competitions, including the 1st prize in the Schubert Club Competition, 1stprize in the Thursday Musical Competition, 2nd prize in the Canada International Piano competition, 2nd prize in the Paderewski International Piano Competition, 2nd prize in the Chicago International Music Competition, 1st prize in MMTF Mozart Concerto Competition, and 1st prize in the DVS Young Artists Concerto Competition. She was the highest ranked pianist and 3 times a prize winner of the Minnesota Orchestra Concerto Competition.

Gaia participated in the Vivace and Chicago international music festivals. She performed in masterclasses for luminaries such as Mikhail Voskresensky, Jerome Lowenthal, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Hung-Kuan Chen, Yoshikazu Nagai, Michelle Cann, Angela Cheng, Steven Spooner, Ursula Oppens and Jason Kwak.

Aside from music, Gaia is an avid writer, a passionate ballet dancer, and runs track and cross-country.