Described by critics as "Dynamic, vigorous, exciting and imaginative - an undisputed star who combines magnetic charisma with a skilled technique" Israeli-American conductor Daniel Boico is the Artistic Director and CEO of the Free State Symphony Orchestra, Associate Guest Conductor of the KZN and Mzansi Philharmonics, and a former Music Director and Chief Conductor of the MÁV Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Hungary, and Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic.

Born in Israel to musician parents and raised in both Paris and the United States, Daniel initially received his training as a singer, and later was a student of legendary Russian professor of conducting, Ilya Musin, at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. A finalist and prize-winner at the Prokofiev, Pedrotti, and Cadaques International Conducting Competitions, Daniel was also Music Director of the Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra, Chicago, and visiting professor and director of orchestras at the Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Earlier in his career, Daniel was apprentice conductor, and later assistant, to Daniel Barenboim at the Chicago Symphony, where he worked closely with such distinguished conductors as Pierre Boulez, Claudio Abbado and Zubin Mehta.