Daniel Lapp grew up in the Cariboo, in Prince George, BC, and was the youngest of six children. There was lots of music in the house with siblings practicing and his mother teaching piano lessons and playing the old dance tunes she had learned on the prairies. Daniel learned his first fiddle tune from his farming grandfather, Dan Wutzke and continued to learn the old-time fiddle style through his youth listening to many Prince George fiddlers and five fiddling uncles. He was also active in music theatre productions, school bands, city choirs and joined the PG Symphony as a teenager.
Since then, he received his BMus from UVic studying trumpet and in a career that has spanned over 4 decades has toured in, India, Europe, Australia, China, Israel, the USA and Canada playing a wide range of musical styles from folk and jazz to electronic music. He has performed with many recognizable names such as Rickie Lee Jones, Spirit of the West, 54-40, Gord Downie, Elvis Costello, Lou Reed, Maria Muldaur, Jim Cuddy, Ed Robertson and the Vancouver and Victoria symphonies to name a few.
In 1994 Daniel started the youth, BC Fiddle Orchestra program which received a national award in 2025 as the first youth ensemble of its kind in Canada. In 2012 Daniel received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee ‘Service’ Award for his legendary work as a music teacher. In 2013 he was the recipient of the Canadian Folk Music Association ‘Innovator’ Award and in 2019 received a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Association’ for his contribution to Canada’s fiddle culture. As well as teaching and performing, this includes a 37 year commitment to collecting, archiving and preserving BC’s fiddle history. This collection currently includes over 3000 BC tunes by over 300 BC composers dating back to 1850.
In 2014, Daniel was hired as the founding Artistic Director of the School of Contemporary Music at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. At the VCM he spearheads innovative programming, helps run the Camosun College Music program and teaches 190 students weekly in ensembles and private lessons.
In 2025 Daniel launched a new recorded label called Woodbox Records to preserve, collect and promote BC Fiddle Music. The label released 4 albums in it’s first year with at least that many in the works for 2026. Woodbox Record has world wide distribution through Audiosalad and later this year BC Fiddle music will be found on all streaming platforms and in music stores around the globe. The label’s first release is up for 4 Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2025.
In the fall of 2026 Daniel will be receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Victoria.