Daniel McKay studied extensively with Australia’s most highly respected guitar pedagogue Timothy Kain, with whom he earned the degrees of Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from the Australian National University.
Daniel has toured as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and Europe – the latter made possible through funding from the Australia Council – and has released CDs with long time ACO assistant leader, violinist Zoë Black [d’aujourd’hui on Move Records], Duo 19 with fellow guitarist Tonié Field [Fluid Lines on Move Records], Guitar Trek [Asturias: The Spirit of Spain on ABC Classics, Six Fish on tall Poppies] and a self-titled solo CD. Since 2014 Daniel has been a member of the Melbourne Guitar Quartet, who can be seen regularly throughout Victoria and as part of the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Local Heroes program. In 2020 the quartet released their fourth CD ‘Blood Oath’, featuring premieres of new works and transcriptions by Arvo Pärt, Robert Davidson, Philip Glass and Pēteris Vasks.
In demand as a teacher, Daniel taught for many years in the pre-tertiary area of Australia’s leading guitar department at the Australian National University, School of Music, and is now on staff at Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne, in addition to The Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School.