Danny O’Connell
Cello
Danny began playing the cello at the age of four at the Community School of the Arts at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL. He studied with Carol Ourada for thirteen years as well as Dr. Tanya Carey towards the end of his high school career. Throughout the years, Danny has traveled all around the world with his cello including Alaska, Spain, and Scotland. He also was awarded the 2016 Norman Cooper International Chamber Music Competition Senior Division 1st Place in Scotland. Danny also won the Sigma Alpha Iota La Grange Chapter competition in 2018. Danny has been one of the principal cellists of the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra for the past two years. Danny was also chosen for a solo masterclass in the Credo chamber music summer camp in 2018. He has also played in Symphony Center under the direction of John Nelson in the Credo Alumni Orchestra in 2019. In the summer of 2019, Danny was the principal cellist of the ISYM Symphony Orchestra, and the recipient of the ISYM Pre-College Scholarship, as well as the conductor’s choice of the outstanding orchestral member. Danny has also taught for two summers as a TA of a chamber music camp in Wheaton, IL called Tutti. He is currently studying Cello performance and music education at the Eastman school of music in Professor Guy Johnston’s studio. Besides cello, Danny spends as much time as he can outside with his dog and enjoys golfing.