“Daniel (Glenn) Padgett is a composer who draws on the musical traditions of folk and Americana to create musical works which reposition ideas surrounding gender, sexuality, and reverence.

Raised in a strict Southern Baptist home in South Carolina, Daniel came out as gay in his early twenties, moving to New York in 2016 to escape the confines of evangelical religion and rural life. Having fronted a band early on and spent brief stints studying Filmmaking and Fine Art in the South, he quickly found a home in New York’s DIY scenes. His entry to both queer culture and experimental music, in New York Daniel began composing for independent dance and film works, and participating in performance art pieces. He also began to write the songs that would eventually become his debut solo album, Ambulette (2022).

After five years in New York, in 2021 Daniel moved to London to formalise his understanding of music by pursuing an undergraduate degree in music at Goldsmiths University under Mira Benjamin. With a focus on experimental composition methods and research in folk music, he graduated with First Class Honours from the Music BA programme. Through his degree, Daniel developed an approach that seeks to destabilise classical music’s inherited conventions. In his work, he is always endeavouring to explore embodiment, materiality, sexuality, and hyper-simplistic, alternative forms of notation. His pieces are often experiments in which the rituals and rigour of classical performance are balanced against an embodied approach and commitment to DIY experimentation. 

Fascinated by the physicality of string instruments from a young age, Daniel now composes predominantly for cello. Drawn to the human scale of the instrument, in recent years his practice has involved experimenting with deconstructed bows; making different objects out of bow hair fragments. Informed by his background as a photographer, Daniel often uses images as a starting point for his pieces, like his recent ‘cello loop ii,’ for which three cellists sat in a circle, looped together by one giant bow of hair. Destruction, the notion that perceived norms should be broken, and the drive to create something new, fuels his work.

Now embedded in London’s experimental music scene, Daniel’s works for cello have been performed throughout the city at venues including Deptford Town Hall (Goldsmiths University, 2024), St. Mary-at-hill (Music We’d Like to Hear, 2024), and The Swiss Church (The Eternal Series, 2025). He has also composed for film, most recently scoring Beth Fletcher’s Micro-Short (2024),which received the Future of Film is Female grant, and screened at MoMA in 2025. Daniel regularly collaborates with other London-based artists including Kirke Gross, Damsel Elysium, Freda D’Souza, MISO, and anrimeal. He occasionally works as a photographer and producer too.

In 2025, Daniel received the International Excellence Scholarship to study Critical and Experimental Composition (MMus) at the University of Leeds. Beginning in September 2025, here he will continue to deepen his understanding of new music practices and further specialise in alternative forms of notion and composition.”
-Holly Connolly, 2025

inquiries: danielglennpadgett@gmail.com