The works of Dana Wilson have been commissioned and performed by such diverse ensembles as the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Formosa Quartet, Canadian Brass, Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Buffalo Philharmonic, Xaimen Symphony, Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Syracuse Symphony, and Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. Solo works have been written for such renowned artists as hornists Gail Williams and Adam Unsworth; clarinetists Larry Combs and Richard MacDowell; trumpeters James Thompson, Rex Richardson, and Frank Campos; flutists Wendy Mehne and Kate Steinbeck; oboists David Weiss and Michael Henoch; bassoonists Michael Kroth and Christin Schillinger; saxophonists Steven Mauk and Jamal Rossi; bassist Nicholas Walker; trombonist Tom Ashworth; tubist Aaron Tindall; pianist Nick Weiser; and drum set player Gregory Evans.

He has received grants from, among others, the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council for the Arts, Arts Midwest, and Meet the Composer. His compositions have been performed throughout the United States, Europe, and East Asia. They have received several prizes, including the Sudler International Composition Prize and the Ostwald Composition Prize, as well as awards from the International Trumpet Guild, the Flute New Music Consortium, and the International Horn Society; are published by Boosey and Hawkes, Alfred Music Publishers, the American Composers Forum, and Ludwig Music Publishers; and can be heard on over twenty recording labels, as well as on national radio broadcasts such as "Performance Today".

Dana Wilson holds a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music and is Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus at the Ithaca College School of Music. He is co-author of Contemporary Choral Arranging, published by Prentice Hall/Simon and Schuster, and has written articles on diverse musical subjects. He has been a Yaddo Fellow (at Yaddo, the artists’ retreat in Saratoga Springs, New York), a Wye Fellow at the Aspen Institute, a Charles A. Dana Fellow, and a Fellow at the Society for Humanities, Cornell University.