Daniel Barta

Daniel Barta is former Professor of Music Theory and Composition and Chair of the Department of Music and Performing Arts at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York. He holds the B.Mus., M.Mus., and D.M.A. from Temple University, where he studied with Clifford Taylor, Maurice Wright, and Matthew Greenbaum. His portfolio includes compositions in all genres, including solo, chamber, choral, and orchestral works. His music has been performed internationally, including God Is Our Refuge and Strength for the International Schools of China Choral Festival in Tianjin, China. In 2019, he composed Ésaïe 61:1-3 for the Roberts Chorale tour of France shortly after the tragic burning of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. The piece was premiered at the American Cathedral in Paris. He has written for Sharon Sweet (soprano), David Kim (Philadelphia Orchestra concertmaster), and Ann Martindale-Williams (Pittsburgh Symphony principal cellist). Two of his works for keyboard, Suite for Piano and Toccata Joyeuse, have been recorded and released on the DTR label. Of the toccata, The American Organist review states, “The Toccata Joyeuse by Daniel Barta is a well-structured multi-sectional work for organ, contrasting lyricism with pyrotechnics, tellingly performed here by Michael Stairs (organist, Philadelphia Orchestra).” He is published by Concordia and Choristers Guild. He and his wife Peggy have two grown children.