Daniel Sonenberg

Dan Sonenberg is a composer, performer and educator living in Portland, Maine. His opera The Summer King was premiered in concert performance by Portland Ovations at Merrill Auditorium in 2014, and then received two fully staged productions, at Pittsburgh Opera in 2017 (starring Denyce Graves) and Michigan Opera Theater (now Detroit Opera) in 2018. His one-act opera Girl in Six Beats was commissioned by Opera Maine, and premiered by members of the University of Southern Maine opera program at numerous venues in 2018. His First Light: A Fanfare for Maine (2021) was commissioned and premiered by the Portland Symphony Orchestra. His electro-acoustic compositions Machine Shop (2015) and The Surprise Guest (2023) have become part of the regular repertory of Lynn Vartan, an internationally-acclaimed percussionist with whom Dr. Sonenberg has collaborated numerous times. His 11-Minute Fantasy (2017) for solo piano was performed numerous times in Summer 2026 by pianist Stephen Beck at the Seal Bay Festival of Contemporary Music.

Mr. Sonenberg’s recent work involves “scripted looping,” and features himself as the performer on numerous instruments. He presented a full concert of looping works at the Crewe Center for the Arts at the University of Southern Maine (USM) in March 2026. He has been a faculty member at USM since 2004, and is currently full professor and Director of Composition Studies.

Other recent compositions include Fourth and Maine (2026) for concert band, Coral Fantasy (2026) for SSAA choir, guitar, synth and percussion, a Wind Quintet (2024), Wind Octet (2023), and, with lyricist Heidi Parker, the new alma mater for USM,  “Southern Maine is Coming Home.”  

Since 2013 he has released numerous recordings of both rock and contemporary art music, both with his bands Lovers of Fictions and Flying Saucer Surprise, and as a solo artist. 

Read more about him at his website:  www.danielsonenberg.com