Daniel Dorff (born March 7, 1956) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

classical

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Biography and career

Dorff was born in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

, and grew up in

Roslyn, New York Roslyn ( ) is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is the Greater Roslyn area's anchor community. The population was 2,770 at the 2010 census. History Ro ...

, graduating from

Roslyn High School Roslyn High School is a public high school in Roslyn Heights, New York, United States, and is the only high school in the Roslyn Union Free School District, serving all of the district's students in grades 912. History The property that Roslyn ...

.A Compact Disc Recording of Three Works for Flute by Daniel Dorff: “April Whirlwind”, “Nocturne Caprice”, and “9 Walks Down 7th Avenue.” Rich, Angela Marie. Arizona State University. 2010. –Via

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

. Dorff graduated magna cum laude from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

and earned his master's degree in composition from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, studying composition with

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

George Rochberg George Rochberg (July 5, 1918May 29, 2005) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Long a serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the practice following the death of his teenage son in 1964; he claimed this compositional technique ...

Karel Husa Karel Husa (August 7, 1921 – December 14, 2016) was a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Music and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. In 1954, he emigrated to t ...

Henry Brant Henry Dreyfuss Brant (September 15, 1913 – April 26, 2008) was a Canadian-born American composer. An expert orchestrator with a flair for experimentation, many of Brant's works featured spatialization techniques. Biography Brant was born ...

Ralph Shapey Ralph Shapey (12 March 1921 – 13 June 2002) was an American composer and conductor. Biography Shapey was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is known for his work as a composition professor at the University of Chicago, where he taught ...

Elie Siegmeister Elie Siegmeister (also published under pseudonym L. E. Swift; January 15, 1909 in New York City – March 10, 1991 in Manhasset, New York) was an American composer, educator and author. Early life and education Elie Siegmeister was born January 15 ...

, and

Richard Wernick Richard Wernick (born January 16, 1934, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American composer. He is best known for his chamber and vocal works. His composition ''Visions of Terror and Wonder'' won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Career Wernick b ...

. Dorff served from 1996 through 2015 as composer-in-residence for Symphony in C (formerly The Haddonfield Symphony) in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

(USA). His works have been commissioned by such ensembles as the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

and

Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Em ...

, and performed by groups and individuals including the

Baltimore Symphony The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it bega ...

Eastman Wind Ensemble The Eastman Wind Ensemble was founded by conductor Frederick Fennell at the Eastman School of Music in 1952. The ensemble is often credited with helping redefine the performance of wind band music. At the time, concert bands used all of their pla ...

, flutists and clarinetists of the

Chicago Symphony The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

and

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

, pianist

Marc-André Hamelin Marc-André Hamelin, OC, CQ (born September 5, 1961), is a Canadian virtuoso pianist and composer. Hamelin is recognized worldwide for the originality and technical proficiency of his performances of the classic repertoire. He has received 11 Gr ...

, and flutists

Jean-Pierre Rampal Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. He has been personally "credited with returning to the flute the popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th century." Biography Ea ...

Jasmine Choi Jasmine Choi (born in Seoul, South Korea) is a Korean-born flutist, educated in the US, living in Austria. Life Raised in Daejeon, Choi studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, where her teachers included Julius Baker ...

Denis Bouriakov Denis Viktorovich Bouriakov (russian: Денис Викторович Буряков; born 25 October 1981, in Simferopol, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR) is a flautist. He is currently principal flutist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. ...

, and frequent collaborator

Cindy Anne Broz Cindy may refer to: People *Cindy (given name), a list of people named Cindy, Cindi, Cyndi or Cyndy *Tugiyati Cindy (born 1985), Indonesian footballer Music * ''Cindy'' (musical), an off-Broadway production in 1964 and 1965 * "Cindy" (folk song ...

. He has also created arrangements for

Sir James Galway Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". He established an international career as a solo flute player. In 2005, he received the Brit Award for Outstand ...

and pop musicians

Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 1944 – 11 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became ...

and

Lisa Loeb Lisa Loeb (; born March 11, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author and actress. She started her career with the number 1 hit song "Stay (I Missed You)" from the film '' Reality Bites,'' the first number 1 single for an artist ...

. Dorff has written many frequently-performed recital works for woodwinds, and music for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

, and chamber ensembles, including often-neglected instruments such as

contrabassoon The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The reed is consi ...

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

, and

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

– the best-known of which are ''Sonatine de Giverny'' and ''Flash!'', both for piccolo and piano. In addition to his compositional career, Dorff is a

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

ist and

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and was bass clarinetist for the Haddonfield Symphony for 20 years prior to Alan Gilbert appointing him composer-in-residence. He frequently lectures on music engraving and notation, a subject in which he is expert. Dorff is currently vice president of publishing for music publisher

Theodore Presser Company The Theodore Presser Company is an American music publishing and distribution company located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, formerly King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and originally based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest continuing music publ ...

; his input has also been sought in the development of leading music notation software.

Works

Narrated works for young audiences

Dorff has taken a particular interest in exposing young people to classical music; many of his works are written for young audiences, including ''Three Fun Fables'', a setting for narrator and orchestra of familiar

Aesop Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales cre ...

tales; ''Billy and the Carnival'', a narrated guide to the instruments of the orchestra; ''Blast Off!'', a travelog of a trip to outer space (the score to which was flown by NASA on the 100th mission of the Space Shuttle); and familiar stories such as ''Goldilocks and the Three Bears'', ''The Three Little Pigs'', and ''The Tortoise and the Hare'', and ''Stone Soup: An Operatic Fable in One Delicious Act'' which has enjoyed well over 1000 performances. *''A Treeful of Monkeys'' for narrator and orchestra (or mixed quintet) *''Billy and the Carnival - A Children's Guide to Musical Instruments'' for narrator and orchestra *''Blast Off!'' for narrator and orchestra *''Goldilocks and the Three Bears'' for narrator and orchestra (or mixed octet) *''Old MacDonald Had an Orchestra'' for narrator and mixed quintet *''Take The Orchestra Out to the Ballgame'' for narrator and orchestra (or mixed quintet) *''The Adventures of Mary's Little Lamb'' for narrator and mixed quintet *''The Bear Went Under the Mountain'' for narrator mixed quintet *''The Three Little Pigs'' for narrator, violin, and cello *''The Tortoise and the Hare'' for narrator and orchestra (or mixed octet) *''Three Fun Fables'' for narrator and orchestra (or mixed octet)

Selected chamber music

Some

chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations * Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics * Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...

pieces composed by Dorff include: *''9 Walks Down 7th Avenue'' for flute and piano *''Allegro Volante'' for xylophone and piano *''Andante con Variazioni'' for flute and clarinet *''April Whirlwind'' for flute and piano *''Atomic Turquoise'' for flute, C trumpet (or viola), and harp *''August Idyll'' for solo flute *''Ballade'' for alto flute, flugelhorn (or bass flute), and piano *''BFF's'' for Eb clarinet and Bb clarinet *''Big Sky'' for flute, viola, and harp *''Cape May Breezes'' for wind quintet *''Dance Music for Mr. Mouse'' for Eb clarinet and piano *''Dark Romance'' for clarinet quartet *''Deep Funk, Part 2'', Dance Sonata for solo viola *''Desert Dusk'' for alto flute and cello *''Fanfare and Hustle'' for brass quintet *''Fantasy, Scherzo and Nocturne'' for saxophone quartet *''Fast Walk'' for saxophone quartet or clarinet quartet or bassoon quartet *''Fireworks'' for flute orchestra *''Flash!'' for piccolo and piano *''Flowers of St. Francis'', five scenes for solo bass clarinet *''Folk Song Suite'' for two flutes *''For Elise'' for flute and piano *''Hot Spots'' for Bb Clarinet and English Horn *''In a Deep Funk'' dance set for solo contrabassoon (or bass clarinet) *''Invention after BWV 1013'' for two flutes *''Invention on Mozart's 11-tone Surprise'' for flute and clarinet *''It Takes Four to Tango'' for sax quartet or clarinet quartet (or many other instrumentations) *''Nocturnes for the Nativity'' for solo flute *''Pastorale (Souvenirs du Frög)'' for clarinet and piano *''Perennials'' for flute, clarinet, and piano *''Perfect Storm'' for piccolo, flute, and piano *''Romanza on a theme of Rochberg'' for solo piano *''Serenade for Flute and Harp'' *''Serenade to Eve, After Rodin'' for flute and guitar *''Shadows'' for solo timpani *''Snow Angel'' for flute and piano *''Sonata (Spirit of the Hudson)'' for bass flute and piano *''Sonata (Three Lakes)'' for flute and piano *''Sonatina d'Amore'' for two contrabassoons *''Sonatine de Giverny'' for piccolo and piano *''Songs of the Open Road'' for solo flute *''Spark'' for solo viola *''Swans'' for 2 alto flutes and piano *''The Day Things Went Wrong at the Pet Store - 11 Cartoons for Piano'' *''Three Dance Etudes'' for marimba duo or ensemble *''The Seven Chakras'' for tenor saxophone and piano *''The Three Little Pigs'' for narrator, violin, and cello *''Three Romances'' for flute and clarinet *''The Year of the Rabbit'' for flute quartet or ensemble *''Through a Misty Arch'' for flute ensemble *''Trees (after the poem by

Joyce Kilmer Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an American writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "Trees" (1913), which was published in the collection ''Trees and Other Poems'' in 1914. Though a prolific poet who ...

)'' for solo flute with narration *''Tweet'' for solo piccolo *''The Seven Chakras'' for tenor saxophone and piano *''Two Cats'' for flute and clarinet *''Woodland Reverie'' for solo flute *''Zoe & Xena'' for piccolo and bass clarinet

Selected orchestral music

Some

l pieces composed by Dorff include: *''A Treeful of Monkeys'' for narrator with orchestra or mixed quintet *''Allegro Volante'' for xylophone and orchestra (or band) *''Billy and the Carnival: A Children's Guide to Musical Instruments'' for narrator and orchestra *''Blast Off!'' for narrator and orchestra *''Concertino'' for flute and orchestra (or piano) *''Concerto for Contrabassoon'' with clarinet, horn, and strings *''Flash!'' for piccolo and orchestra *''Goldilocks and the Three Bears'' for narrator with orchestra or mixed octet *''Pachelbel's Christmas (A Merry Melange)'' for orchestra *''Philly Rhapsody'' for orchestra *''Stone Soup: An Operatic Fable in One Act'', an opera for young audiences with soloists, mixed choir, and accompaniment *''Summer Solstice'' Concerto for clarinet and string orchestra *''Take the Orchestra Out to the Ballgame'' for narrator and orchestra *''The Kiss (after a painting by

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's prim ...

)'' for orchestra *''Three Fun Fables'' for narrator and orchestra or mixed octet *''The Tortoise and the Hare'' for narrator and orchestra or mixed octet *''Symphony of Delusions''

Discography

* ''Andante con Variazioni'' (

Albany Records Albany Records is a record label that concentrates on unconventional contemporary classical music by American composers and musicians. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987 and is based in Albany, New York. See also * List of record la ...

TROY 1404), Leonard Garrison flute, Shannon Scott clarinet * ''April Whirlwind'' (private label), Angela Massey flute, Vahan Sargsyan piano * ''August Idyll'' (Cantilena Records 66042-2), Laurel Zucker solo flute * ''August Idyll'' (private label), Kristen Stoner * ''Billy and the Carnival: A Children’s Guide to the Instruments'' (

Bridge Records Bridge Records is an independent record label that specializes in classical music located in New Rochelle, New York. History A classical guitarist, David Starobin recorded the Boccherini Guitar Quintet in E minor in the 1970s. This was his first ...

9229),

Ukee Washington Ulysses Samuel “Ukee” Washington III (born August 20, 1958) is an American news co-anchor for the weekday evening newscast on KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He currently anchors ''CBS News Philadelphia'' on CBS 3 at 5,6 and 11 PM w ...

narrator, Rossen Milanov conducting Symphony in C * ''Blast Off'' (

9229),

narrator,

Rossen Milanov Rossen Milanov ( bg, Росен Миланов) is a Bulgarian conductor. He is Music Director of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra & New Jersey's Symphony in C. He is also Principal Conductor of Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias, in ...

conducting Symphony in C * ''Dances and Canons'' (

TROY 1404), Leonard Garrison flute, Shannon Scott clarinet * ''Fast Walk'' (Meister Music MM-1016 and MM-1133), Harmo Saxophone Quartet * ''Flash!'' (90002, distr.

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''ha ...

), Gudrun Hinze piccolo, Markus Zügehor piano\\\ https://www.amazon.com/PicCollage-Gudrun-Hinze/dp/B006W0YJH2/ref=sr_1_cc_4?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1468697377&sr=1-4-catcorr&keywords=gudrun+hinze * ''Flash!'' (private label), Kate Prestia-Schaub piccolo, Martin Kennedy piano * ''Flash!'' (Numar Un MM 52-16), Nicola Mazzanti piccolo, Ferdinando Mussutto piano * ''Goldilocks and the Three Bears'' (

92292),

Ann Crumb Elizabeth Ann Crumb (May 25, 1950 – October 31, 2019)

narrator,

conducting Symphony in C * ''It Takes Four to Tango'' (Farao Classics B108011), Interclarinet Ensemble * ''It Takes Four to Tango'' (Meister Music MM-1016), Harmo Saxophone Quartet * ''It Takes Four to Tango'' (Sea Breeze Records SEAB 3059), The Miles Osland Saxophone Quartet * ''Meditation at Perkiomen Creek'' ( Azica Records 71349), Yolanda Kondonassis, harp * ''9 Walks Down 7th Avenue'' ( Azica Records 71257), Pamela Youngblood flute, Gabriel Bita piano * ''Nocturne Caprice'' (private label),

Mimi Stillman Mimi Stillman is a professional concert flutist. Career Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Stillman became, at the age of 12, the youngest flute player ever admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Julius Baker and Jeffrey ...

solo flute * ''Pastorale (Souvenirs du Frög)'' (

TROY 1404), Shannon Scott clarinet, Rajung Yang piano * ''Perennials'' (

TROY 1404), Leonard Garrison flute, Shannon Scott clarinet, Rajung Yang piano * ''Serenade to Eve (after Rodin)'' (Barking Dog Records), Deborah Harris flute, Mike Coates guitar * ''Serenade to Eve (after Rodin)'' (private label), Jenny Cline flute, Carlos Cuestas guitar * ''Sonata (Three Lakes)'' (

Centaur Records Centaur Records is one of the oldest and largest independent classical labels in America. The company is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was founded by Victor Sachse in 1976. Centaur's catalog includes classical, historical, pops, contemp ...

CRC 3525), Patricia Surman flute, Kostas Chardas piano * ''Sonatina d’Amore'' (

Crystal Records Crystal Records is an American producer and distributor of classical chamber and solo music recordings. The company was founded in 1966 by Peter George Christ (born 1938) and is incorporated in the state of Washington. Christ, who has served as p ...

CD 349), Burl Lane and Susan Nigro contrabassoons * ''Sonatine de Giverny'' (

CD 713), Lois Herbine piccolo, Charles Abramovic piano * ''Sonatine de Giverny'' (Talanton TAL 90002, distr.

), Gudrun Hinze piccolo, Markus Zügehor piano * ''The Three Little Pigs'' (New Focus Recordings FCR108), Auricolae Ensemble * ''Three Fun Fables'' (

92292),

Ann Crumb Elizabeth Ann Crumb (May 25, 1950 – October 31, 2019)

narrator,

conducting Symphony in C * ''Three Little Waltzes'' (

TROY 1404), Leonard Garrison flute, Shannon Scott clarinet * ''Three Romances'' (

TROY 1404), Leonard Garrison flute, Shannon Scott clarinet * ''Two Cats'' (

TROY 1404), Leonard Garrison flute, Shannon Scott clarinet * ''Zoe & Xena: A Romp in the Park'' (

TROY 1652), Leonard Garrison piccolo, Shannon Scott bass clarinet

References

External links

Daniel Dorff's websiteDaniel Dorff's page at Theodore Presser CompanyDaniel Dorff Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorff, Daniel 1956 births Roslyn High School alumni Flower Hill, New York Musicians from New Rochelle, New York Living people 21st-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers Cornell University alumni Classical saxophonists 21st-century American composers 20th-century saxophonists 21st-century American saxophonists 20th-century American composers Classical musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians