A son of a prominent musicologist, Daniel Raiskin grew up in St Petersburg. He attended music school from the age of six and went on to the celebrated conservatory in his native city, where he studied viola and conducting. Inspired to take up the baton by an encounter with the distinguished teacher Lev Savich, he also took classes with such maestri as Mariss Jansons, Neeme Järvi, Milan Horvat, Woldemar Nelson und Jorma Panula.