Daniel Pardo, Assistant Professor of Flute at Prairie View A&M University, works regularly as a studio musician in orchestral and commercial settings, fusing Western Classical traditions with ethnic sounds and technology. Born in Bogota, Colombia, Daniel's performer/producer roles have led to special collaborations in recordings and tours with LA producers K.C. Porter (Santana and Ricky Martin) and J.B. Eckl (Santana and En Vogue), and artists such as Jeff Coffin, Karen Briggs, Jake Shimabukuro, Steve Wiest, Bob Mintzer, Shango Dely, Rosana Eckert, Chris McDonald, Giampiero Scuderi, Tyler Mire, Sergio Pamies, Drew Zaremba, Kyle Gordon, Brasuka, Jose Aponte and Caribe Club, Keith Critcher and the EDCC Concert Series, Cesar Lopez (Non Violence Messenger for the United Nations) and Chicago members (James Pankow, Jason Scheff and Keith Howland).
In reference to Daniel's playing, film composer Richard Jacques said, "Daniel's flute tracks are GREAT! Love the sound, performance, vibrato... They make a big difference to my music, really bringing it to life!"
Grammy-nominated composer and arranger Steve Wiest praised his time working with Daniel saying, "What a joy to write for Daniel Pardo! 'Concerto for Folded Space' called for an entire flute choir, some 56 separate tracks. Daniel played them all at the virtuoso level and I could not be happier with the results! He is simply a world-class musician of the highest order."
As an educator, Daniel has been invited to present at major conferences, such as the International Society for Improvised Music held at CalArts, the Texas Music Educators Association Convention and the Jazz Education Network Conference. He has also presented at universities in North and South America, including the University of North Texas, University of Texas at Arlington, Texas State University, University of Northern Colorado, Oklahoma Baptist University, University of Denver and Universidad de Las Americas (Quito, Ecuador).
In 2016, Daniel won first prize for the UNT Sherman-Barsanti Inspiration Award, a campus-wide competition honoring creativity that carries a $10,000 prize, for his innovative world fusion arrangements/performances with From A Land Far Away. In addition to earning national leadership awards in Colombia and the U.S., Daniel has been recognized for his contributions to the U.S. military with the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Commendation Medal and the Colonel George Howard Citation of Musical Excellence. Daniel holds music performance degrees from Texas State University (B.M.) and the University of North Texas (M.M. and D.M.A.) as well as music business and production certificates from the Berklee College of Music. Daniel's principal mentors include Fabio Londoño, Greg Patillo, Pedro Eustache, Adah Jones and Mary Karen Clardy.
