Daniel Wohl is a Paris born composer based in Brooklyn who writes for a variety of instruments that range from computers and slide whistles to orchestras, chamber ensembles and string quartets. Recently deemed by the New York Times to be a composer whose “ingenuity was evident” and one this generation’s “imaginative and skillful creators”, his recent work draws heavily on his background in electronic music and delves into sounds produced by decayed audio, noise, and prerecorded media, while maintaining a direct link to influences ranging from Debussy to Reich.
Daniel’s music has been commissioned and/or performed by groups and artists such as Eighth Blackbird the California E.A.R Unit, the Calder Quartet, TRANSIT, pianist Vicki Ray, NY York Youth Symphony, Dither electric guitar quartet, Mantra percussion quartet, Da Capo Chamber Players, Cygnus, St Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, as well as the American Symphony Orchestra. His pieces have been heard throughout the US and in Europe in venues and festivals such as Carnegie Hall, MATA, Third Practice, Le Poisson Rouge, Symphony Space, Bang on a Can Summer Institute at Mass MoCA, Redcat, Galapagos Art Space, Chelsea Art Museum, the Dia Beacon and over media outlets such as PBS, WQXR, CANAL +, TFI and FRANCE 2.
Daniel’s works, “Monde Angulaire” (for mixed ensemble), “Helium” (for orchestra) “+ou-” (for chamber ensemble and electronics) , and “Glitch” (for amplified string quartet and electronics) were ASCAP Young Composer Award winners (2007 honorable mention, 2008, 2009, 2010). In 2009 he received commissions from Meet the Composer – Commissioning Music USA fund to create ” Son Blanc” a 30 minute work for TRANSIT with 12 channel electronics, as part of a residency at the Brooklyn based Diapason Gallery. The same year he received an American Composers Forum – Jerome Foundation grant to create “Corps Exquis” a multi-media chamber and electronics band in conjunction with several New York based video artists.
Recently completed and upcoming projects include a performance of “Glitch” at the 2010 MATA Festival, a work commissioned by the Carlsbad Music Festival for the Calder Quartet, a commission from the Albany Symphony , a new piece for Bang On A Can All-Star cellist Ashley Bathgate and “New York’s queen of avant-garde piano” Lisa Moore, as well as a new electro-acoustic work for SO Percussion.
Other awards, recognition and/or grants have come from Meet the Composer, Society for New Music, Music Now, ASCAP Plus, NY Look & Listen, Music IX, the Definiens Project, and the Brooklyn Arts Council among others. Daniel is also actively involved in writing for independent film, and his scores have been heard in theaters across France, on PBS, and at the Rooftop Film Festival.
Daniel is committed to the music of today’s young composers, and as co-founder of the TRANSIT ensemble he has commissioned and presented pieces by emerging composers from around the world. Also active as an educator, Daniel teaches courses in composition, orchestration, and theory at Sarah Lawrence College.
In 2010 Daniel will begin his doctoral studies at the Yale School of Music. He currently holds degrees from the University of Michigan School of Music (M.M), studying with Bright Sheng and William Bolcom, and from Bard College (B.A). In 2007 he received an ASCAP composers fellowship to attend the Bang on a Can Summer Institute where he worked with Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon.
