Dan Galat

Dan Galat is a Chicago-based violinist and violist, a classically trained performer comfortable across a wide range of styles and techniques. Working primarily with living composers, Dan can be found with Chicago's new music ensembles such as Fulcrum Point New Music or as the concertmaster of Chicago Composers Orchestra. Dan Galat is the founding member of Missing Piece with cellist Kelly Quesada, a Chicago music ensemble that endeavors to commission new musical works and works from other artistic disciplines on themes that inspire others to connect with their community, care for our environment, listen deeply to ourselves and others, and speak out against injustice. 


Dan Galat is active across a variety of styles, including Baroque music with the Bach Cantata Vespers, or as a recording musician, recently with Manuel Cinema in their short film Future Feeling. Dan was the violinist, violist, and backup vocalist for the 24-show premiere in Chicago of Illinoise, the adaptation of Sufjan Stevens's album into a musical now on Broadway. Dan has freelanced with many orchestras including Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, and Columbus Indiana Philharmonic (concertmaster). Dan received his BM and MM at Indiana University, studying with Kevork Mardirossian, Desiree Ruhstrat, and Joseph Swensen.

Performance Highlights

  • • Composing the Climate with Cacie Miller @Constellation

    • Produced Earth/Land, 4 premiers for handmade flower pots and violin/cello (As Missing Piece)

    • Produced Third Stream - curation and performance of works in the Third Stream genre (as Missing Piece)

    • Performed as a violinist for Fulcrum Point New Music Project 

    • Premiered a 24-performance run as a violinist, violist, and backup vocalist in a critically acclaimed sold-out run of Illinoise at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.

    • Premiered diminishing 5ths, a climate change performance piece @ESS (as Missing Piece)

    • 4 concert series run spanning the length of classical music history from 1100-today at Colvin House in May with pianist Shi-An Costello and cellist Kelly Quesada

    • Performed with Chicago Composers Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Bach Cantata Vespers

  • • Missing Piece

    • (Ido Quartet)

    • (Collaborations with Sixto Franco, Shi-An Costello, Myra Hinrichs, Cacie Miller)

  • Chicago Composers Orchestra (concertmaster), Illinois Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Bach Cantata Vespers, Northwest Indiana Symphony, New Philharmonic, Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra (Assistant Concertmaster), Columbus Indiana Philharmonic (Concertmaster, Assistant Principal Second Violin), the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.

  • • AFM Local 10-208.

    • New Music Chicago

  • Details of my performance and collaborative/ecological practices featured in a dissertation published in Fall 2023 by Cacie Miller