Daniel Ketter, born and raised in Kansas City, was appointed in 2018 as Assistant Professor of Music at Missouri State University, where he teaches courses in cello, chamber music, and music theory. In Springfield, Missouri, Daniel is principal cello of Springfield Symphony Orchestra and specializes in performance of contemporary and classical chamber music, regularly collaborating with Ensemble Alla Balena, Rio Verde String Quartet, Cellax Duo, and other groups nationally and internationally. 

Daniel Ketter is Co-Director and cellist of American Wild Ensemble (www.musicintheamericanwild.com), which celebrates the people and places that define American communities with new music. In 2018, American Wild Ensemble released a two-hour album of eleven original works on the ArtistShare label, including an hour-long music video album available on YouTube. With support from the National Endowment for the Arts, these works were commissioned and performed for a national tour of 25 performances in seven national parks celebrating the centennial of the National Park Service in 2016. Since 2016, AWE has collaborated with ten different national parks and historic sites and commissioned and premiered over thirty new chamber music works, with support from Washington’s National Park Fund, Chamber Music America, Mid-America Arts Alliance, The Paul R. Judy Center for Applied Research, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Missouri State University, Missouri Humanities, and New Music USA.

Daniel completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where he is now summer faculty for the Eastman Cello Institute. In Rochester, Daniel also taught cello and chamber music at Hochstein School of Music and Dance and co-coordinated their Chamber Music Connections Program. He founded the Eastman Cello Ensemble, which gave annual performances for “Live at Hochstein” broadcast on the radio by WXXI and for “If Music Be the Food…” benefiting Rochester’s Foodlink. In Springfield, Daniel coaches chamber music for the annual MSU String Fling.

In 2020, Daniel finished a Ph.D. in Music Theory at Eastman School of Music, and serves as Co-Chair for Society for Music Theory’s Performance and Analysis Interest Group. His research interests include essential voices in Schenkerian theory, history of music theory, and performance and analysis. Daniel’s dissertation defines the concept of an essential voice in Schenkerian theory, grounding it in historical music theory and tracing it through J. S. Bach’s works for solo melodic instruments. 

Daniel has a MM in cello performance and pedagogy from Peabody Conservatory, studying with Alison Wells, and graduated with high distinction from both Eastman School of Music (BM ’10, cello performance) and from University of Rochester (BA ’10, mathematics). He joined the Opus 76 Quartet in June 2021.