Daniel Kurganov

Daniel Kurganov (born November 29, 1986) is a Belarusian-American concert violinist and music educator. He began formal violin training at the age of 16. He has performed across the United States, Europe, and Japan, recorded several albums with pianist Constantine Finehouse, and maintains a YouTube channel with 94,600 subscribers.

Early life and education Kurganov was born in Minsk, then part of the Soviet Union (now Belarus), to a Jewish family, and immigrated to the United States with his family as a toddler, settling near Chicago. Initially studying piano as a child, he later switched to guitar in his early teens before commencing violin studies at age 16 under Alla Danichkina.

He pursued further education at the Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland, studying under Rudolf Koelman, a protégé of Jascha Heifetz.

Career

Performing Kurganov performs as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral guest artist in venues across the United States, Europe, and Japan. He is a founding member of the Kurganov–Finehouse Duo, specializing in Romantic-era sonatas, and the Aegis Piano Trio. He has toured Japan with the Kurofune Ensemble, which he founded to blend classical and modern Japanese arts.

He collaborated with composer Stephanie Ann Boyd, performing her work "Aurora" during a tour with Finehouse in 2022. In 2011, He was invited to participate in the Violins of Hope project in Sion, Switzerland, where he performed on a violin rescued from the Auschwitz concentration camp. Other notable appearances include concerts at Merkin Hall, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Harvard Musical Association.

Teaching Kurganov founded the Boston Violin Intensive in 2018. He has conducted masterclasses at institutions including the Boston Conservatory, the University of Maryland, and Musikhochschule Münster. Kurganov maintains a YouTube channel with instructional videos. and the Boston Musical Intelligencer. He has partnered with the music education platform Tonebase and served as a Featured Artist-Teacher from 2022 to 2025, producing educational content with Pinchas Zukerman, Seymour Bernstein, Marc-André Hamelin and Ron Carter.

Musical style Music critic Jed Distler, reviewing Kurganov's Brahms recording, notes: "Kurganov employs vibrato judiciously, and on occasion sneaks in just a hint of upward portamento à la Kreisler or Elman when reiterating a motive."

Discography + Selected discography Title Year Collaborator(s) Label Notes Between the Notes 2018 Constantine Finehouse Spice Classics Includes works by Brahms, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, and a Gershwin arrangement by Heifetz Rhythm and the Borrowed Past 2021 Constantine Finehouse Orchid Classics Features pieces by Lera Auerbach, Richard Beaudoin, Messiaen, and Cage Brahms Violin Sonatas 2023 Constantine Finehouse Hänssler Classics Brahms's three violin sonatas, recorded on a 1706 Guarneri violin; rated 10/10 by Classics Today