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2007
Dave has commissioned a new work for unaccompanied marimba from contemporary classical and jazz composer and pianist Dave Stapleton. Dave Stapleton graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2002 with a BMus Degree in classical piano. Inspired by the freer and more expressive world of European jazz, he has subsequently dedicated himself to a fusion of improvisation, jazz and contemporary classical music, rapidly becoming a rising star on the UK jazz scene and tagged as ‘a name to watch’ by both Jazzwise and the Independent on Sunday.
Dave will be presenting a session on commissioning and arranging music for solo percussion at the internationally-attended Royal Northern College of Music Percussion Day on Sunday 3rd February 2008. World-premiere performances of new works by Andrew Keeling, Dave Stapleton and Gareth Wood will feature alongside Dave Danford's arrangement of Vaughan Williams' Concerto Accademico, with the RNCM String Orchestra.
Dave has commissioned a new sonata for marimba and piano from Welsh composer Gareth Wood. Three Pieces for Marimba and Piano is an exciting and challenging new work encompassing a number of different styles and moods over its 12-minute duration and will be published by Alto Publications in December 2007.
The featured work is a new version of Vaughan Williams' concerto for solo violin Concerto Accademico, transcribed for marimba and vibraphone with string orchestra accompaniment. The secondary work for the tour is Serenata for Marimba/Vibraphone & String Orchestra, a brand new work from Ney Rosauro, one of the world's most successful composers for percussion. The tour will kick-off with a performance of Concerto Accademico at the Royal Northern College of Music with the RNCM String Orchestra on 3rd February 2008.
UK-based Andrew Keeling has written works in a wide-range of genres, having previously worked as a cathedral chorister, played as a multi-instrumentalist in various rock bands and performed as a flute recitalst. The new piece is Maximon, a rhythmically-driven concert piece for soprano saxophone and 5-octave marimba.
Ludwig takes the form of a short concert performed by a chamber orchestra of twelve musicians. This imaginative concert features several works inspired by Beethoven's ‘apotheosis of the dance’ (Symphony No. 7) created by some of the most exciting composers working today: Graham Fitkin, Robert Moran and Orlando Gough and John Corigliano's Fantasia on an Ostinato based on the 2nd movement of the same symphony.
A further highlight of the programme is Beethoven's work for Glass Harmonica (tuned glass bowls) written in 1815. The work is performed on video by specialist percussionist Alasdair Malloy which you can hear alongside a new set of variations composed by Charlie Barber. Also in the programme is André Boucourchliev's "hommage" to Beethoven, Ombres (Shadows), a transcendental and sustained piece for strings with a unique character. Ludwig Van, a surreal fantasy in film made in 1970 by Mauricio Kagel, receives a rare screening as well as new video art from widelode. Tour Dates Thursday 27th September 2007 - De Valence Pavilion, Tenby Saturday 29th September 2007 - Clwyd Theatr Cymru Sunday 30th September 2007 - Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff Tuesday 2nd October 2007 - Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London Wednesday 10th October 2007 - Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon Thursday 11th October 2007 - Alsager Arts Centre Sunday 14th October 2007 - Taliesin Theatre, Swansea Saturday 20th October 2007 - St. Donats Arts Centre, Llantwit Major Tuesday 23rd October 2007 - Lampeter University
There's a major interview with Dave in the Summer 2007 issue of Rhythm magazine, the UK's best-selling drum magazine. Dave talks with Mark Walker about his early musical experiences before discussing in-depth his new solo album Rhythmic Renaissance and the studio sessions he's done for dance producers including Judge Jules and Darren Tate.
Promising to be one of the most inspired and original electronica albums of the year, the album will include the massive hits The Sun Is Shining (Down On Me), Winter, Destination and the incredible new club smash single Hold Me Til' The End. The album will also feature exclusive performances by many major international artists including More Kante and Andrea Britton. Dave contributes a range of live percussion to the album including drums, latin percussion and balaphone.
Dave Danford is now officially a Remo artist.
Remo is the world's leading drum company, with an extensive range of products available, many of which have become industry standard over the last half a century.
Dave originally arranged Vaughan Williams' Concerto (for violin) in D Minor in late 2005 and premiered the first movement in a recital at The Amadeus Centre, London in January 2006. The new version for solo percussion (marimba and vibraphone) was first performed in its entirety at Oystermouth Music Festival in June 2006. 2008 marks the 50th anniversary of Vaughan Williams' passing, and OUP are planning a series of special publications to commemorate this. Concerto Accademico will be involved in this series and a number of performances for next year are planned.
Dave is featured in the Spring 2007 issue of Connect magazine. Dave talks about his life since music college, working with dance artists Darren Tate and Judge Jules and his new solo album Rhythmic Renaissance.
After a successful performance in Clevedon at the end of April, Dave returns to Somerset three times over the next couple of months for further tour dates:
Obrasso, Switzerland's biggest brass band publisher, have added Dave's arrangement of Wild Cherries by Ted Snyder to their catalogue. Wild Cherries is a lively xylophone solo, originally made famous by Harry Breuer, and now available with brass band accompaniement: obrasso.ch.
On Wednesday 25th April 2007 Dave appeared as guest soloist with Tredegar Town Band at a concert in Cardiff. Dave performed the lively final movement of Derek Bourgeois' Concerto for Percussion in the first half of the concert before returning in the second half to perform the final movement of Ney Rosauro's Concerto for Marimba followed by Katamiya, an unaccompanied marimba solo from his new album Rhythmic Renaissance. Further details about the concert are available here: Tredegar Town Band.
Dave's new solo release is now available as a digital download from iTunes. The album was released in CD format on Saturday 3rd March and you can now download individual tracks or the entire album through the iTunes store: click here to access.
The day began with a percussion workshop with the county percussion ensemble, preparing two pieces for the evening concert; Dave Powell's Ensnared and Ney Rosauro's Despedida. Dave then rehearsed Alfred Reed's Scherzetto with the county wind orchestra, one of the items from his new CD. Also on the programme for the evening concert was Burry Port Town Band, who performed a number of exciting original works for brass band along with Rodney Newton's short concerto Variations for Percussion and Brass Band, which again featured Dave. The concert was completed with another of the works on Dave's solo album, Paul Smadbeck's beautiful work for solo marimba Virginia Tate. Audio samples from the concert will be available shortly.
The CD will feature Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, and joining the band for the recording will be the King's Singers along with four guest vocal soloists including Nicky Spence.
The European Solo Competition for Brass & Percussion is held annually as part of the European Brass Band Contest, and 2007 is the first time percussionists have been given the opportunity to enter. Following three preliminary rounds, the three strongest performers will progress to the final, where they will perform a set concerto with brass band accompaniment. Two pieces by Ney Rosauro have been set for this round of the competition; his world-famous Concerto for Marimba and his more recent Concerto for Timpani. Until recently these two concerti only existed in orchestral versions, posing a problem for the organisers. However, Dave had already arranged two of the movments of Rosauro's Concerto for Marimba for inclusion in his own solo repertoire. Dave has now been commissioned to arrange the remaining movements of the Concerto for Marimba as well as the Concerto for Timpani, and both works will be available from the original publisher, MalletWorks, in the near future.
Dave's Rhythmic Renaissance Tour continues in April and includes two dates with championship section brass bands. On Saturday 21st April 2007 Dave will be performing Rodney Newton's short concerto 'Variations for Percussion and Brass Band' with Burry Port Town Band in their hometown. The concert is part of a percussion day with Carmarthenshire Music Service, full details of which will be released shortly. The following Wednesday, 25th April, Dave will be in Cardiff performing with Tredegar Town Band as their guest soloist at the Tabernacle Chapel. A strong programme has been chosen, including the 3rd movement of Derek Bourgeois' Concerto for Percussion and the 4th movement of Ney Rosauro's Concerto for Marimba. The tour continues in North Somerset two days later, where Dave will be appearing with Gordano Wind Ensemble as their guest soloist on Friday 27th April at St. Peter's Church, Clevedon.
Dave is featured in the February / March 2007 issue of MUSO, the magazine aimed at young professional musicians, students and music enthusiasts. Colin Anderson speaks to Dave about his new album Rhythmic Renaissance, Vaughan Williams' Concerto Accademico and his work with DJs Judge Jules and Darren Tate.
The album will be released on Saturday 3rd March and the tracks involved have been confirmed as follows: Peter Tanner - Sonata for Marimba and Piano Paul Smadbeck - Virginia Tate Derek Bourgeois - Adagio for Vibraphone Alfred Reed - Scherzetto
Ralph Vaughan Williams - Concerto Accademico Ney Rosauro - Toccata and Divertimento Jacob Wheeler - Elam Woc The album will be released at a concert at Morley Town Hall, Leeds on Saturday 3rd March 2007 at 7.30pm. |
Dave will be undertaking three seperate solo tours in 2008. The largest-scale of these will be the RVW Tour, commemorating 50 years since the passing of Ralph Vaughan Williams. 
Andrew Keeling has been commissioned to write a new duet for saxophone and marimba for duo Joel Garthwaite and Dave Danford. 
Dave will be part of the Ludwig Tour over the next couple of months, organised by Sound Affairs 
The UK release of the highly anticipated and genre defining DT8 Project album Perfect World is scheduled for September.
With a number of drum-based performances coming up over September and October, Dave has signed on as a Remo artist. 
Oxford University Press, one of the largest and most respected music publishers in the world, will be publishing Dave Danford's arrangement of Vaughan Williams' Concerto Accademico in 2008.
Dave spent an enjoyable day with Carmarthenshire Music Service on Saturday 21st April 2007. 
Dave will be featuring in the Brass Band Aid Celebrity Band alongside a host of the biggest names in banding to record the latest charity recording in May 2007. 
Dave has been commissioned to arrange two of Ney Rosauro's orchestral concerti for brass band. 
Full details have now been released of Dave's forthcoming solo album. 
Emmanuel Sejourne - Katamiya 