
After Tragedy, Daniel Beilman Found a New Path in Music. The Recording Academy Took Notice. A car accident left Beilman temporarily deaf and blind, but he returned to music as a teacher. The rewards have been many.
By
Cheston Knapp
December 12, 2024
Daniel Beilman B.M. '14
Image courtesy of artist
Earlier this year, Daniel Beilman B.M. '14 was named a quarterfinalist for the prestigious Music Educator Award from the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum. This recognition has been humbling and unexpected. Growing up, Beilman dreamed of a career as a bassoonist. If he thought of teaching at all, it was as a means toward this end. But he's found that helping students with disabilities achieve new milestones has been a gift beyond reckoning.
It's been the most incredible and fulfilling job I've ever had, he says of his work at Oak Park School in Sarasota, Florida. I had a student today who said his first five words. Ever. And he's a junior in high school. Things like this happen all day, every day.
Beilman uses music as a tool to help his students feel more comfortable with themselves and the world, which helps them build the confidence they sometimes lack.
Allowing music to be a form of communication, a way of learning how to speak or hear, is truly special, he says, adding that music has been a big part of his recovery from a car accident that left him temporarily unable to do either.
When Beilman graduated from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, he was on track to having the life of his dreams. He was traveling the world to play with orchestras, teaching in cities across Europe, and writing new music with ambitious composers. But in the spring of 2020, while driving to a hike, he lost control of the wheel. His car flipped and turned his world completely upside down.
Over the next six months, his hearing and sight slowly returned. . . . For almost two years, he couldn't bring himself to even dream of playing his bassoon.In a movie of his life, this would be where the flashback montage happens. Beilman at six: stealing his sister's clarinet and playing along to The Lion King soundtrack. In middle school: falling in love with the bassoon after seeing a Disney commercial in which a young girl plays the The Sorcerer's Apprentice and her toys spring to life. At the Conservatory: staying up into the small hours playing with his classmates. In his mid-20s: pinching himself as he sits in with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker.
When Beilman woke up in the hospital, the fear he felt was literally unspeakable. In and out of medically induced comas, he couldn't see, hear, or move. After stabilizing, he endured extensive facial reconstructive surgery, with over 60 implants and more grafts than he can remember. After his release, 21 days later, he realized that his journey to recovery had just begun. With the horrific behind him, what lay ahead was merely awful.
Over the next six months, his hearing and sight slowly returned. To relearn how to use his facial muscles, he said his ABCs again and again, exaggerating each letter, and slowly regained his ability to speak. For almost two years, he couldn't bring himself to even dream of playing his bassoon.
My doctors said that if I blew too hard, a lot of things could happen, he says. So I was hesitant.
He's playing again now, though. And while he's not at the same level he was at before the accident, he's still able to find the joy that drove him to the instrument and to music-the same joy he loves seeing in the faces of his students. And he's discovered a deep well of sympathy has opened inside him after his experience of being deaf and blind. I get sad and emotional if I think about not playing and performing again, he says. But now, no longer playing just for himself, he lives with a profound sense of purpose.
Related Categories
Berklee Today
News
Most Popular
Rihanna sings during the Concert for Valor in Washington, DC, November 11, 2014.
Image by EJ Hersom / CC-BY-2.0
This Rihanna Song Has Secret' '80s Easter Eggs The SOS songwriter revealed a nostalgic twist to the lyrics, and it's going viral on TikTok.
Latest
Alissia Benveniste BM '14
Grammy-Nominated Producer Alissia Benveniste Makes Magic, Inside and Outside the Studio Since graduating a decade ago, bassist Benveniste has been exploring collaborations with legends and forging new creative connections.
Tina Davis, president of the independent distributor, record label, and publisher EMPIRE and Tonya Butler, chair of Berklees Music Business/Management Department.
Image courtesy of Music Business/Management
Berklee Honors Tina Davis, President of EMPIRE, at Annual Music Business Lecture Series The leader of one of the most successful independent record labels shared insights at the 31st annual James G. Zafris Lecture Series.
Daniel Beilman B.M. '14
Image courtesy of artist
After Tragedy, Daniel Beilman Found a New Path in Music. The Recording Academy Took Notice. A car accident left Beilman temporarily deaf and blind, but he returned to music as a teacher. The rewards have been many.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
18/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/02/2026
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die in theaters February 2026 Photo courtesy of Graham Bartholomew, SMPSP
James Whitaker, ASC reunited with visionary director G...
18/02/2026
TAG Video Systems has expanded its Media Control System (MCS) version 1.7.0 release with Lens, a visual service health analysis interface that organizes monitor...
18/02/2026
Teradek, a global leader in advanced video transmission technology, today announced the launch of RF-X Auto Switcher, a revolutionary appliance designed to deli...
18/02/2026
Train Dreams. (L-R) Director of Photography Adolpho Veloso and Joel Edgerton as Robert Grainier on the set of Train Dreams. Cr. Daniel Schaefer/BBP Train Dreams...
18/02/2026
Cerberus Tech, a leader in cloud-native IP video contribution and distribution, today announced the addition of Akamai Cloud as a supported infrastructure optio...
18/02/2026
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that Office de Radio et T l vision des Comores (ORTC), the national public broadcaster for the Comor...
18/02/2026
Calibr-Skaggs and Kainomyx launch collaboration to pioneer novel malaria treatments Partnering to speed up the discovery of new malaria drugs that target parasi...
17/02/2026
Eutelsat announces the renewal of multiple capacity agreements with Viewsat, rei...
17/02/2026
At Milano Cortina 2026, one statistic stood out across industry reporting: 70% of global signal distribution is now happening over public cloud. What began as e...
17/02/2026
CP Communications provided broadcast support for Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif. at Levi's Stadium, marking 27 years of working around the Big Game. Th...
17/02/2026
Street-level images of iconic Los Angeles landmarks are incorporated into the regular-season look
With NBC Sports just months into its return to NBA coverage a...
17/02/2026
Sophie Hyde and John Lithgow backstage during the premiere of Jimpa. (Photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
17/02/2026
Johannesburg, 17 February 2026 - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), ...
17/02/2026
A Green Beret hangs a 60mm mortar round from a M225A mortar system on a live-fire range. (Photo credit: U.S. Army)...
17/02/2026
AI Is Scaling Faster Than Governance And That's a Risk AI adoption hasn't rolled out through neat transformation programmes. It has spread organically...
17/02/2026
Cable Surges 9% on Strength of College Football Playoffs and News, while NFL Delivers Top 15 Broadcast Telecasts
ESPN (+86%) and FOX News Channel (+17%) Combin...
17/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/02/2026
As the FCC explores a potential clawback of Upper C-Band spectrum currently used for broadcast distribution, BCNEXXT is working with broadcasters and operators ...
17/02/2026
India is entering a new age of industrialization, as AI transforms how the world...
17/02/2026
Agentic AI is reshaping India's tech industry, delivering leaps in services ...
17/02/2026
India is the nexus of AI innovation this week as the host of the AI Impact Summit, which brings together global heads of state and industry to chart the future ...
17/02/2026
17 Feb 2026
VEON and Hala to Explore Partnership in Ride-Hailing Services Dubai, February 17, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital operator ( VEON...
17/02/2026
Qube Cinema announces the acquisition of the business of Arts Alliance Media (AA...
17/02/2026
Back to All News
Unveiling What's Next on Netflix for Australia and New Zealand in 2026
Entertainment
17 February 2026
GlobalAustraliaNew Zealand
Link ...
17/02/2026
Back to All News
WBD Files Definitive Proxy Statement and Schedules Special Mee...
17/02/2026
Arvato Systems Once Again Named One of Germany's Best IT Service Providers.
The best IT service providers in 2026
G tersloh - Arvato Systems is once ag...
17/02/2026
Open the report
Our 2025 report brings together results from 155 consumer magazine titles across 42 market sectors, published by 59 media owners. Over the year...
17/02/2026
Celebrating 21 Years of the RT Choice Music Prize
RT Choice Music Prize
In association with IMRO and IRMA
Classic Irish Album
And the winning album is
T...
17/02/2026
RT has today announced that as part of its public-service remit, it will expand...
16/02/2026
The production infrastructure scaled seamlessly from regular-season games to the...
16/02/2026
The operations team reimagined traditional workflows were reimagined and built a...
16/02/2026
Once again an in-house operation, the league's network is producing shows fr...
16/02/2026
The league is producing its first All-Star with NBC, Intuit Dome, and, once agai...
16/02/2026
When a customer in London needed a 4K video wall that could take 12G input, the media company found no video wall suppliers that could meet their specs and time...
16/02/2026
Grass Valley, a media and entertainment technology innovator, has won a competitive NATO-wide tender to provide the new camera system for NATO's main broadc...
16/02/2026
Comcast Business announces it is again partnering with NBCUniversal to architect and manage critical components of the linear and digital broadcast for three of...
16/02/2026
Week two of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are underway and crucial to the NBC Sports efforts has been the NEP Group which is providing a full range of...
16/02/2026
The Film Independent Spirit Awards have officially switched things up. This Sund...