Daniel Lapp

Daniel Lapp grew up in Prince George, BC, in a house with deep prairie roots that included his musical mother, an old-time pianist, and a grandpa and 5 uncles who were all committed to the old-time dancing fiddle tradition.

He received his BMus from UVic studying trumpet and over the past 30 years has toured the world playing a plethora of musical styles. He has performed on a variety of instruments with many recognizable names such as Spirit of the West, Rickie Lee Jones, 54-40, Gord Downie, Barney Bentall, Jim Cuddy, Elvis Costello, Lou Reed, Danny Michel, and Broken Social Scene.

In 2012 Daniel received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee ‘Service’ Award and in 2013 was the recipient of the Canadian Folk Music Association ‘Innovator’ Award for his contribution to Canada’s fiddle culture. Besides teaching, this includes a 25 year commitment to collecting indigenous BC fiddle tunes which includes over 1000 compositions by over 100 BC composers.

Daniel is currently the Artistic Director of the School of Contemporary Music at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. In this position, he is developing new curriculum and ways of inspiring the community to engage in music for themselves and with each other as well as an innovative Diploma in Music Performance program through Camosun College.