ABOUT
From composing the soundtrack for an Amazon Prime series to getting commissioned by ensembles such as the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Danial Sheibani’s work resonates across film, TV, theater, dance, and visual art. An Iranian Canadian composer, conductor, vocalist, and teacher, he delves into the depths of the human psyche, inviting listeners on a voyage of introspection and revelation. With an unwavering passion for collaboration, he has written for the Whispering River Orchestra, Norfolk New Music Ensemble, the University of Toronto Opera and Symphony Orchestra, the Verona Quartet, the Standing Wave Ensemble, and many more. Recipient of esteemed accolades including the NYO Emerging Composer Mentorship Program, the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship, and the SOCAN Young Composers Award, Sheibani's compositions work to induce memories from the lives of his listeners and introduce them to new worlds of sensation and thought.
In the summer of 2024, his music will be performed in renowned locations such as Koerner Hall, TCU Place, Winspear Centre, and the Yale School of Music, by NYO Canada and the Norfolk New Music Ensemble. Past works in his catalog have received performances in Harbourfront Centre, Arts & Letters Club Toronto, The Annex (Vancouver), the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, Pacific Lutheran University, and many more.
He is currently pursuing his fourth year of undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto with his teachers being Christos Hatzis, Richard Danielpour, and David Serkin Ludwig.
The Blank Canvas Sound Collective before the inaugural concert.
Photography © 2023 Jingyi Zhou
Outside of his composing work, he is also the co-founder, principal conductor, and director of finance for the Blank Canvas Sound Collective which he started with his peers at the University of Toronto. He has also taken part at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music’s International Conducting Training Program where he conducted Sanctus and Benedictus from the Mozart Requiem with orchestra, chorus, and soloists. His mentors in the program were Dr. Joe Miller and Dr. L. Brett Scott. His conducting mentors include Thomas Burton (choral) and Gary Kulesha (orchestral) who have helped him grasp his technique and voice as a conductor. He is also an active vocalist, studying under Mark Daboll. Singing in many different choirs around Toronto has shown him a more human aspect in music which he hopes to present in works of his own. He has enrolled in summer studies at the Norfolk New Music Workshop, CCM Choral Intensive, Cascade Composers Workshop, Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, and Compocon 2023 – Standing Wave.
Having a love for teaching, he has students all over Toronto where he teaches piano, voice, theory, and composition, in his private studio. Alongside these passions, he is also the co-founder of Sonaria LLC, a multi-media company, that helps create opportunities for emerging musicians and artists by publishing and marketing their work through a connected database of industry professionals.
His work explores themes regarding the imperfections of the human psyche. Working with evocative soundscapes that aim to create trance-like atmospheres and question the listener’s perception of time. He works to have listeners experience vivid imagery of their own life's memories and be introduced to new worlds of sensation, thought, and feeling.
In theatre, he has worked with directors such as Shelley Mayer and Ethan Joshua to deliver music of its highest quality. He has also composed for theatre director and writer, Carleigh Pace-Tonna's sci-fi radio play, Re-Gen (2021). He was also commissioned to compose the score for Shelley Mayer's Our Passion (2023) which premiered at Seeley Hall in Trinity College. Danial was the composer of Banafsheh Taherian's Iranian podcast, Chai with Banafsheh. He has also worked with film director and writer, Joshua Ampuero, on composing for the short films The Scruff (2021) and One Good Thing (2021). In addition to short films, he also composed for Joshua Ampuero and Michael Barrett’s Amazon Prime series, Red Sands (2022).
He has also studied film scoring with George Oldziey and Orchestration with Tim Huling from the film scoring department at Berklee College of Music and has also workshopped with film composers such as James Newton Howard, Harry Gregson-Williams, Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL), Christoph Beck, Christopher Lennertz, and Phillip Klein.