Daniel Ridder learned to play the trombone at the age of 15 in his native Sauerland. During his carpentry apprenticeship he switched to the tuba and then became a conscript in the Symphonic Concert Band of German Armed Forces (Musikkorps der Bundeswehr). After auditioning for the Students Band of German Armed Forces in Hilden, his decision to become a professional orchestra musician matured. In 2004, Daniel Ridder began his music studies and graduated in 2009 and in 2009 he completed his studies as a graduate orchestral musician with Prof. Hans Gelhar and Prof. Hans Nickel at the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf with the highest grade of 1. At the same time he studied tenor tuba/euphonium as a subsidiary subject. Also very successful.

In addition to his main job as principal tuba player in the Musikkorps der Bundeswehr Siegburg, he is regularly engaged as a substitute with various well-known orchestras, including the WDR Funkhausorchester Cologne, Staatstheater Oldenburg, Sinfonieorchester Münster, Duisburger Philharmoniker, Südwestfälische Philharmonie Hilchenbach, Bergische Symphoniker, Philharmonisches Orchester Hagen and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf. In addition, Daniel Ridder has made an extraordinary name for himself through numerous CD and solo CD recordings, as well as solo concerts at home and abroad. After winning an audition at the Staatstheater Oldenburg in 2013, he nevertheless decided to remain active in the Musikkorps der Bundeswehr and continued his passion for opera and orchestral literature in a wide variety of orchestras. Concert tours have taken him to South Korea, China, Brazil, Africa, Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, France, Spain, the USA, Norway, Austria and Turkey. In 2014, he was appointed by the Richard Wagner Association as a scholarship holder at the Bayreuth Festival. This time had a great impact on him and broadened his musical horizons.

In addition to his orchestral activities, Daniel Ridder has passed on his accumulated knowledge in recent years in top-class workshops or master classes for low brass, including with Prof. Hans Nickel, Prof. Andreas Hofmeir and the German Tubaforum. At the Musikhochschule Münster, together with the lecturer for trombone, he passed on his experience in orchestral playing with great success. In his free time he teaches and has already helped several young people to make the leap into music studies. His special focus is the promotion of amateur music in his region. In cooperation with the Adams company from Holland, he is currently working on a model of a contrabass tuba and is a proud endorser of this company. He has also developed his own series of mouthpieces for bass and contrabass tuba with a well-known mouthpiece maker. Since 2021 Daniel is proud Artist of the Eastman Company too!

In his spare time he is very enthusiastic about the history of the tuba and its instruments. Many of these rare instruments are in his private collection. At the beginning of 2021, his tuba book "Total - Tuba" will be published by a well-known publishing house, containing 31 exercises by himself and international tuba players and professors. Daniel Ridder continues his education in workshops, master classes and professional brass ensembles, e.g. the WDR Brass Band Cologne.

He has been playing in professional brass ensembles in his home region for over 15 years. He also plays in tuba quartets and large brass formations. This gives him an enormous repertoire in the field of chamber music. Some arrangements of his work around the low brass are available in music publishers. Daniel Ridder always keeps in close contact with various professors at conservatories in Germany and abroad.