Alumni Help Record Label Sono Luminus Rise to the Top
By Meredith Cox
Daniel Shores ’ 99 and Dan Merceruio ’ 06 have spent their professional careers with a record label located in Boyce , Va ., known as Sono Luminus . The company was founded in 1995 when the owners of Cisco Systems , a top supplier of networking systems for the Internet , decided to use their expertise to record music at a high level . Focusing on acoustic , classical and early music artists , Sono Luminus has been nominated for 19 GRAMMY awards in the past five years , winning Best Engineered Classical Album in 2010 and a Latin GRAMMY award for Best Classical Album in 2012 . Shores and Merceruio have played intricate roles in helping create the success that Sono Luminus has enjoyed , and both believe their alma mater directly prepared them for where they are today .
Daniel Shores
Daniel Shores has worked at Sono Luminus for 13 years . After graduation , he was approached by the professor he says influenced him the most , Associate Professor of Music Production & Recording Technology Golder O ’ Neill ’ 92 , with an opportunity at an up-and-coming recording studio . Sono Luminus needed an assistant intern , and O ’ Neill saw a bright future for Shores .
“ I checked it out , interviewed , got the job , and I ’ ve been here ever since ,” Shores commented .
Shores now serves as managing director and audio engineer at Sono Luminus . His responsibilities as head of the recording label
include finding and signing new artists , preparing contracts , managing staff and artist promotion and driving each project . As the audio engineer , he does everything from setting up microphones and recording the sessions , to editing , mixing and mastering the sessions .
“ My role encompasses many different things ,” said Shores . “ It definitely keeps me on my toes .”
Shores has always felt passionate about working with music and making it sound great . His father , who is now a minister , was originally a music engineer . Shores remembers that throughout his
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