Darryl Kubian

Kubian’s The Maestro Waltz, a special 70th-birthday piece for Neeme Järvi, was the featured encore during a number of NJSO concerts; it is also mentioned in Järvi’s biography, The Maestro’s Touch. Other recent works include the symphonic overture Occam’s Razor, premiered in May 2009 and performed by the Omaha Symphony in March 2012.

Darryl is a member of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s first violin section, and former principal second violinist of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra. A jazz musician and improvisor, he has performed with trumpeter Randy Brecker in a Charlie Parker program entitled “Bird Lives!” and has arranged and performed Ellington’s “Sacred Songs” in collaboration with the Jazz Studies Program at Rutgers University. Kubian has performed and improvised with Nigel Kennedy, Al Jarreau, Rufus Reid, Bobby Short and Renée Fleming. He has recorded with Trevor Pinnock, Malcolm Bilson, Meredith Monk, Bruno Weil, Zdenek Macal and Phillip Glass.

In March 2015, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra premiered Darryl's latest work, O for a Muse of Fire, a concert overture for full orchestra and vocal soloist, based on Shakespeare’s Henry V. The work is dedicated to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and its music director, Jacques Lacombe. The soloist for the premiere performances with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra was former October Project lead singer (and former Sony Classical artist) Mary Fahl. The vocal part is adaptable to different vocal ranges.

Darryl has performed as theremin soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra of New York, and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. In January 2019, Darryl performed with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra in a program titled "Pops in Space". He is featured as theremin soloist on the 2019 Cincinnati Pops Orchestra album, VOYAGE. In March 2017, he performed with the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra in a production of the Lera Auerbach's The Little Mermaid with the Hamburg Ballet. In July 2015, Darryl was the featured theremin soloist for the Lincoln Center Festival's production of Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton. In the same month, Darryl performed as theremin soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia festival, again performing works by Danny Elfman. The Lincoln Center performances were filmed by Live from Lincoln Center and will be broadcast on PBS stations beginning October 30, 2015. As theremin soloist with the NJ Symphony, Kubian has performed Bachianis Brasileires No. 5 by Villa-Lobos, the theme from Star Trek, and the Spellbound Suite by Miklos Rozsa. He has performed the Martinu Fantasia for Theremin, Oboe, Piano and String Quartet with the Concordia Chamber Players, and the Bronx Arts Ensemble. He has performed both solo and chamber works as part of the Parlance Chamber Concert Series, the Ridgewood Concert Band, and Manchester Music Festival. Darryl’s performance of Two Songs Without Words for Theremin and Piano by Herbert Deutsch, is featured on Deutsch’s CD release of his works, “From Moog to Mac.”

Eric Wyrick performed the work with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Michoacán in Mexico, in October of 2009. A CD of this collaboration was recorded and released.

During the 2007–08 season, the NJSO gave the premiere of Kubian’s 3-2-1 Concerto for Electric and Acoustic Violin and Orchestra — an NJSO commission dedicated to then-Music Director Neeme Järvi and NJSO Concertmaster (and soloist) Eric Wyrick. A preview about the Kubian and the new work was featured on NJN's State of the Arts. This NJN segment can be found online here: 3-2-1 on NJN's State of the Arts

Darryl Kubian (born February 19, 1966) is an American composer, thereminist, violinist, and audio/video engineer. His compositions have been commissioned and performed by North American orchestras, such as the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Omaha Symphony, and he has written soundtrack scores for the Wildlife Conservation Society, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Pangolin Pictures, NHK, CBS, The Learning Channel, and others. Darryl performs and records as a thereminist, including chamber and solo works by Herb Deutsch, Martinu, and others, and has also been a featured soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia of New York, and the NJ Symphony on theremin. He was the featured theremin soloist for the Lincoln Center Festival production of Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton. Darryl Kubian is a member of the first violin section of the NJ Symphony, and was the principle second violinist of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Indigo Fox Media, Kubian's New Jersey-based audio/video production company, has recorded artists such as the Emerson String Quartet, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, members of the NY Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, and the Metropolitan Opera, among many others. He is married to violinist JoAnna Farrer.