Daniel Ward is an accomplished musician, composer, and educator, who has become one of the country’s top clinicians and performers on the “ukulele circuit.” He is known for his command of Latin styles and teaches right-hand techniques, adapting his style and knowledge from the classical and flamenco guitar. He has been a featured performer and workshop instructor at festivals across the country, including the Reno Ukulele festival, West Coast Ukulele retreat, Wine Country Ukulele Festival, San Diego Ukulele Festival, Port Townsend Ukulele festival, Albuquerque Ukulele festival, and many more. With his wife Heidi Swedberg, he has performed as an artist in residence at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, and performed at Children’s Music Festivals around the country, including concerts in Los Angeles, New York City, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, and the Austin City Limits Festival. Heidi and Daniel were also featured performers at Music China in Shanghai in 2012.

As a guitarist, Daniel has toured the world playing flamenco guitar with Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra (1997 – 2000) as well as performing with the flamenco dance ensembles of Maria Benitez, Dance Espana, and Yjastros (1994-present), and 20 years playing rock-n-roll electric guitar for Celebrity Enterprises corporate entertainment (1994-present).

As a commissioned classical composer, Daniel has penned two string quartets for the Del Sol ensemble of San Francisco, and a four-hand piano piece. He has scored music for film, television, and video. 

In the field of recording, he has won awards (Parent’s Choice NAPPA, NM Recording Arts, Fids, and Kamalies) on both albums he collaborated with Heidi Swedberg and is a sought-after producer and arranger. His own CD After the Storm is an award-winning virtuosic performance of original compositions masterfully played on electric and flamenco guitar.

Daniel Ward graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in classical guitar performance, and a minor in composition. His musical expertise includes Flamenco, jazz, pop, and most styles of world music, along with the ability to compose and improvise within these styles. He is also a seasoned educator and has 25 years of experience teaching music to all ages. He is a consultant and music typographer for music method books and writes as a columnist for Ukulele online magazines.

As a performer and a teacher, Daniel believes the ukulele holds a strong place in the music industry and music education as an expressive instrument that still remains accessible and approachable to all levels of students and professionals alike.