About Daniel Lark
Daniel Lark is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is classically trained and known for writing imaginative songs with finely crafted lyrics and sophisticated harmonies. While he will be releasing his first professionally recorded album in 2026, he has been writing and recording music for many years.
High School, College, & Graduate School
Throughout high school, Daniel wrote and recorded several albums worth of songs, playing all of the instruments and producing the music himself. He performed in bands and won the high school talent show. This activity culminated in a self-released album titled “In Peace Harmonically,” which was produced in a run of about 20 physical copies and given to friends on the last day of high school.
After high school, Daniel pursued classical music studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He earned a Master of Arts degree in Music Theory, as well as a Bachelor and Master of Music in Classical Guitar Performance.
As a classical guitarist, Daniel studied with James Flegel and Jeffrey Van, and was an inaugural member of famed “New Complexity” composer James Dillon’s Contemporary Music Workshop. In recitals, he focused on works of the 20th century, including pieces by Britten, Brouwer, Ponce, Carter, Takemitsu, Berkeley, Andriessen, Krenek, and Milhaud.
In music theory, primary research papers were written on topics like the use of harmony, rhythm, and musical character patterns in Elliott Carter’s “Shard;” analyses of birdsong transcriptions and compositional techniques in Olivier Messiaen’s “Catalogue de Oiseaux,” and the use of metaphor and mythology in The Microphones’ 2001 album, “The Glow, Pt. 2.”
A Garden In The Cave
After graduate school, Daniel faced the reality of having to find a job and earn a living. At the same time, in a fit of pent-up inspiration, he began writing the songs that would make up his signature project, “A Garden In The Cave.” Envisioned as a song cycle in the mold of Schubert’s “Winterreise” or Bob Dylan’s “Time Out Of Mind,” the songs tend to revolve around recurring themes. According to this conception, “The Cave” represents a state of loneliness and isolation, where one’s thoughts pace in circles in the dark. “The Garden” represents its opposite, an ideal state of creativity, where one becomes in touch with a complete, unified vision of reality. The theme of the album “A Garden In The Cave,” then, is the struggle to plant the abundance of a Garden in the barrenness of the Cave.
Daniel wrote an initial batch of 12 songs from 2011-2012, dubbed “A Garden In The Cave, Book I”. In 2013, he set about to self-record the songs in the same manner that he recorded his high school triumphs, but was frustrated with the ensuing results. He went back to writing.
In 2014, he began to lose weight rapidly and unexpectedly, and was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. While adjusting to life with an insulin pump, he continued to work at his day job and even earned an MBA through evening classes after work. He wrote music when he could.
From 2013-2019, another batch of songs called “A Garden In The Cave, Book II” were written. After an extremely difficult period in 2019-2021, he emerged much improved, writing additional songs and meeting his future wife. He resolved to finally record the music he had so painstakingly written over many years.
The result is the forthcoming album, “A Garden In The Cave,” featuring a selection of 11 songs written at various points from 2011 to 2021. The album was recorded at F5 Soundhouse with co-producer Owen Sartori, and features a number of Minneapolis-based musicians as well as artwork by Pierangela Garau. The album is a triumph of overcoming, of battling one’s insecurities and demons, and striving to create beauty in a world so full of brokenness. In other words… to plant a garden in the cave.