Born in Austria, Daniel Schmutzhard was a soloist with the Wilterner Sängerknaben from an early age. He began his studies at the conservatory in Innsbruck and subsequently continued at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. In 2005, he played at the Volksoper Wien, then at the Oper Frankfurt. His international career then began: Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Staatsoper Berlin, Salzburger Festspiele, Bayreuther Festspiele, Bayerische Staatsoper, Bregenzer Festspiele, and the New National Theatre in Tokyo, among others.

He sings a very wide repertoire, both in opera and in concert, under the direction of great conductors such as Rattle, Weigle, Barenboim, Jacobs, Petrenko or Jurowsky and directors such as Kosky, Wieler, Kentridge or Bieito: He gives Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Don Giovanni, Marcello (La Bohème), Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Eugene Onegin, or Die Schöpfung, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, War Requiem, among many others. He is a regular guest at the Theater an der Wien, where he has portrayed roles such as Papageno, Corpo (Rappresentatione de Anima e di Corpo), Dunois (Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans), Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Scherasmin (Oberon) and Olivier (Capriccio).

For the 2022-23 season, the Volksoper Wien has secured his extensive presence, presenting him as Robert in Jolanthe (De Beer/Meir Wellber), Eisenstein (Fledermaus), Danilo (Merry Widow) and Papageno (Magic Flute), among others, as well as Herr Fluth in the new production of Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor. In concert, he can be heard in a gala tour with Annette Dasch under Stefan Blunier in France and with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Jonathan Nott in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.