Apart from his work as a solo musician, Daniel has had extensive experience collaborating with other musicians, both in concert and in recordings. From his many experiences, we chose to highlight two partnerships which have been active for a number of years.
DANIEL WOLFF (guitar) & THIAGO DE MELLO (organic percussion)
Daniel and Thiago de Mello met in New York through guitarist Carlos Barbosa-Lima, with whom Thiago . was preparing the repertoire for their CD Chants for the Chief. Upon getting acquainted with Daniel’s work as an arranger, Carlos and Thiago invited him to write the arrangements for several tracks of the CD. Thus began an enduring friendship and collaboration
After this first work, Daniel arranged a large number of Thiago’s compositions for varied instrumental combinations. Several of these arrangements, upon being performed in the United Sates, Europe and South America, have been recorded by Daniel and other internationally acclaimed musicians such as guitarist Sharon Isbin and saxophone player Paul Winter, resulting in a Grammy Award in 2001.
Joining their forces as performers, Daniel and Thiago formed the Heart to Heart duo, in which Daniel’s guitar playing is matched by Thiago ‘s organic percussion (the readers of Down Beat Magazine voted Thiago the 3rd best percussionist in the United States). They have performed successfully in Brazil and the United States, and in 2005 released the CD The Right Seasons – Heart to Heart, containing Daniel’s arrangements of Thiago’s pieces for guitar in a variety of instrumental combinations. Composer and producer Carlos Branco defined the CD as “absurdly beautiful”, while Grammy Award winner guitarist Sharon Isbin, professor at New York’s Julliard School, commended the “wonderful performances and arrangements”.
For further info on the CD The Right Seasons, please visit CDs & Sound Samples.
Further info on Thiago’s work can be found at his homepage.
DANIEL WOLFF & DANIEL GÖRITZ – Guitar Duo
The two Daniels met at New York’s Manhattan School of Music, where they were the sole guitarists accepted for the Doctoral program. Shortly after, they started working as a duo, focusing on expanding the repertoire by means of nouvelle transcriptions, which they have performed in Germany, Greece, South America and the United States.
An associate professor at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, Germany, Mr. Göritz has performed with major orchestras and ensembles in Germany, England and the United States. In 1988, he was a prizewinner at the International Guitar Competition Kutna Hora. As a composer, Mr Göritz was awarded the annual commission by the Berlin Senate for a work for chamber orchestra, which was premiered in Berlin in 1995. He also won the Grand Prize at the International Composer’s Cometition at Britain’s Huddersfield International Contemporary Music Festival. Classical Guitar Magazine wrote: “an accomplished musician, there is every reason to consider Daniel Göritz to be on the threshold of a distinguished career.” The Berliner Zeitung considered him “a masterful soloist as well as composer”. For further info, visit his homepage.
Along with their ongoing performance activities, the duo is currently working on a project to record their transcriptions for CD release. The first CD, New Transcriptions for Two Guitars – Vol. 1 (Kreuzberg records), with works by Beethoven, Chopin and Schubert, received encouraging reviews: “excellent” (Akustik Gitarre, Germany), “compelling and convincing” (Gitarre Aktuell, Germany), “consistent passion and good rapport” (Guitar Review, USA). The scores of the arrangements are published by Edition Margaux. Further info on this recording, including sound samples, can be found here.