Biography

American violinist Daniel Rafimayeri is the 2019 Burdick-Thorne Gold medalist of the Stulberg International String Competition, where he also received the award for best performance of Bach. 

Highlights of his recent solo engagements include performances of Bruch Concerto with The Baltimore Chamber Symphony, The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and The York Symphony Orchestra. Daniel was selected to perform solo Bach with the Juilliard 2023 Spring Dances and won the 2023 Salon de Virtuosi career grant. He is a featured artist with the French Consulate in New York City and has performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully at Lincoln Center, Summer Stage, Miller Auditorium, Kosciuszko Foundation, Harris Concert Hall at the Aspen Music Festival, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A dedicated chamber musician, Daniel has performed in multiple chamber showcases with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and his pre-college chamber group won the Manhattan School of Music chamber competition. Daniel was selected for the Wu Han/David Finckel chamber program at the Aspen Music Festival, the Heifetz International Music Institute, The Young Artists Program in Ottawa, Keshet Eilon Music Center, Music Academy of the West, and Greenwood Chamber Music Camp in Massachusetts.

Of French-Iranian heritage Daniel was born and raised in New York City, where he attended Hunter College Elementary and High School and the Manhattan School of Music pre-college program. An alum of NPR’s From The Top, Daniel won the NYYS concerto competition and soloed with The Manhattan School of Music Philharmonic. He holds a Bachelor's degree in violin performance from The Juilliard School where he is currently pursuing a Masters with Catherine Cho. His previous teachers include Patinka Kopec, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Si-Jing Huang, and Paul Biss.