Originally from New York City, Daniel Katz is a founding member of the German General Rabbinical Association. With a Ph.D. in historical musicology, he conducts research on the history of Jewish music, particularly the development of Ashkenazi synagogue song during the Enlightenment and Emancipation. A new research grant will allow him to publish a Hebrew biography from 1875 about the most important synagogue cantor in Europe 200 years ago (Cantor Salomon, known as Kashtan), together with an English translation and commentary. Previous academic honors include two Fulbright grants and a research fellowship at Harvard University. Daniel also writes his own songs, many of which have a Jewish component. Among these are a setting of Heinrich Heine’s "Belsatzar" for voice and string quartet, “The Death of Moses” for baritone and piano, and “My Shining Sons” for an unaccompanied women’s trio, based on a story about Rabbi Meir and his wife Bruria.