Daniel Hersog, Academic Coordinator of the Jazz Studies program at Capilano University and faculty member at the VSO School of Music, is acclaimed by All About Jazz as “a major new compositional voice in jazz.” He is a distinguished composer and performer and the winner of the Jazz Times poll award for best composer in 2020. His debut album Night Devoid of Stars and his 2023 release Open Spaces (Folk Songs Reimagined) received praise from Downbeat, Jazz Times, Jazzwise, The Vancouver Sun, and The Guardian, which placed him alongside composers such as Steve Lehman, Henry Threadgill, and Maria Schneider. A graduate of the New England Conservatory and recipient of the Gunther Schuller Medal, Hersog has performed at festivals including the Akbank Jazz Festival in Istanbul and the Vancouver International Jazz Festival.