Dani Howard
is a British composer and orchestrator who is quickly gaining international recognition with regular performances across Europe, the US and Asia. Winner of a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for her Trombone Concerto, Howard has had works commissioned and performed by over forty orchestras worldwide, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and five BBC orchestras.

Howard’s Trombone Concerto was premiered in 2021 by Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and soloist Peter Moore. Dubbed “an instant classic… lush… riveting…” (Richard Morrison, The Times), the work received a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the Large-Scale Composition category. The concerto was nominated in the Classical Music category at the 2022 South Bank Sky Arts Awards, where Howard was also nominated for The Times Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award. The concerto has since received performances with London Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and Gävle Symfoniorkester among others; the US premiere will take place in May 2024 with Peter Moore, The Orchestra NOW and conductor Chloé van Soeterstède.

In the 2022/23 season, Howard took up the post of Composer-in-Residence with London Chamber Orchestra, while other 2022/23 commissions include Add Oil for solo cello, commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music for its 200 Pieces bicentenary project, and The Butterfly Effect, commissioned for City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s centenary celebrations. The work received its world premiere on 14 June 2023 as part of the orchestra’s season finale concert conducted by Kazuki Yamada. August 2023 saw the world premiere of Howard’s chamber opera The Yellow Wallpaper at Copenhagen Opera Festival, with its UK premiere taking place the following month at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre. The production was Howard’s second collaboration with commissioners The Opera Story.

The 2023/24 season brings commissions from National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and Grimethorpe Colliery Band, as well as saxophonist Jonathan Radford and guitarist Jack Hancher. As part of her ongoing residency with London Chamber Orchestra, Howard has been commissioned to write a Saxophone Concerto for Jess Gillam, premiering in spring 2024. Additionally, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and soloist Dame Evelyn Glennie will premiere Howard’s new Percussion Concerto on 18 April 2024 at BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff.

In the 2022/23 season, Howard took up the post of Composer-in-Residence with London Chamber Orchestra, while other 2022/23 commissions include Add Oil for solo cello, commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music for its 200 Pieces bicentenary project, and The Butterfly Effect, commissioned for City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s centenary celebrations. The work received its world premiere on 14 June 2023 as part of the orchestra’s season finale concert conducted by Kazuki Yamada. August 2023 saw the world premiere of Howard’s chamber opera The Yellow Wallpaper at Copenhagen Opera Festival, with its UK premiere taking place the following month at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre. The production was Howard’s second collaboration with commissioners The Opera Story.

An early success for Howard came with Argentum, commissioned in 2017 by the Royal Philharmonic Society and Classic FM for Classic FM’s 25th anniversary and premiered by Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, who also performed Argentum the following year at the Royal Albert Hall. Argentum has since received over twenty-five performances worldwide, forming part of the CBeebies Ocean Adventures tour which opened at the 2022 BBC Proms, and continued throughout the UK with the BBC Orchestras and Ulster Orchestra. 2022 also saw Royal Philharmonic Orchestra commission Ellipsis in celebration of its 75th anniversary. The work received its world premiere by the orchestra at Royal Festival Hall with conductor Vasily Petrenko.

2019 saw her debut with London Symphony Orchestra (Gates of Spring) and BBC Symphony Orchestra (Argentum), as well as a return to Liverpool Philharmonic with a new commission, Coalescence, for the opening of their 2019/20 season conducted by Vasily Petrenko. Her debut opera ROBIN HOOD also premiered in 2019 to critical acclaim, described as ​“a sophisticated and incredibly beautiful piece that surely places Howard amongst the best of contemporary British opera composers” (Bachtrack).

In 2020, Howard was commissioned by the Antoni Gaudí building Casa Batlló in Barcelona to compose an hour of music inspired by the spaces throughout the building, which acted as the new audio guide for their 10D Experience launched in May 2021. This project saw her record full symphony orchestra and percussion quartet at Teldex Studios with members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony and Deutsche Oper Berlin, conducted by Pablo Urbina.

Howard was born and raised in Hong Kong. She graduated with first class honours from the Royal College of Music as a Rose Williams Scholar, studying under Jonathan Cole.