Danny Dahlquist-Johnson is the proud founder and director of the Morris Park Singers, a non-auditioned, 100-singer mixed voice community choir based in Minneapolis, MN. The choir was formed in 2022 as an space for musicians who wanted to (re)introduce a creative musical outlet into their lives post Covid. The choir had only 18 singers in its first season and quickly grew to 102 in the fall of 2025. The Morris Park Singers has also started their own series of one-night pop-up choirs to give more people in the community a chance at music-making, especially if they don’t have the time to commit to a full season of a choir.
Danny holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Music Education from St. Olaf College and a Master of Music in Music Education from Boston University. He is also a member of ACDA, Chorus America, and ASCAP. He has done everything from teaching in public school classrooms for 4 years, teaching private voice lessons for 8, serving on the board for the Morris Park Players (a community theater company that helped start the Morris Park Singers) for 5 years, and even music directing one of their shows. He now works for a children’s book publishing company, which allows him the time to focus on his family, his choir, and the occasional composition project.
He has been composing and especially arranging since he was in high school. He is excited to bring his arrangements into the world and looks forward to partnering with ensembles to create special arrangements, specifically fit for their choir.
WHY THE JUNIPEL ANGEL ICON?
Just over halfway into my older sister’s pregnancy with her second child, her and her husband got devastating news about the health of the baby. On February 21st of 2019, my niece, Juniper, was born. She fought a tough battle and lived a long four hours, just long enough to have all our family have a chance to hold her and make sure her short life was filled with nothing but love. I was the last person to get to hold the beautiful angel, while my mother and I watched her take her last sweet breaths. This was something that I struggled with for a very long time.
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Fast forward to the 4th season of the Morris Park Singers, I was struggling to find one last a cappella piece to fill out the program. The theme that season was “Soar”. I scoured through many places and just could not find a piece that I felt like filled the missing spot. Then, through almost serendipity, while having a tough mental health day thinking about Juniper, I was looking through old files on my laptop to pass by time and found some of my old arrangements that had been collecting virtual dust for a decade. I was quickly inspired and reminded of something that had brought me great creative fulfillment for many years. I decided to resurrect an old solo that I had started writing in college and turned it into my song, “Wings”, which was premiered by the Morris Park Singers at our concert on May 13th, 2024. To honor her legacy, my “juniper angel” icon is on the cover of every composition and arrangement of mine so that I never forget what inspires me again.
