Danniel was a composition fellow and participant at the Klangspuren Schwaz (AT), Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (CAN), Domaine Forget (CAN), Festival Musica (FRA), New Music on the Point (USA), DePaul University Residency for New Music (USA), ilSUONO Contemporary Music Week (IT), among other festivals and institutions. Additionally, his works have been performed at the Festival Empreintes (FRA), Festival de Morelia (MEX), Sala São Paulo (BRA), and the Biennial for Brazilian Contemporary Music (BRA). Danniel has worked with ensembles such as L’Instant Donné, Yarn/Wire, Schallfeld, JACK Quartet, RAGE Thormbones, Dal Niente, Suono Giallo, Eco, Paramirabo, and Abstrai. He has had private lessons with Chaya Czernowin, Franck Bedrossian, Clara Iannotta, Philippe Hurel, Malin Bång, Daniel D'Adamo, Mark Andre, Brian Ferneyhough, and Du Yun. 

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Danniel completed his Master’s degree in composition (M.Mus.) at McGill University in 2018, advised by Philippe Leroux. At McGill, Danniel also had additional instructions in music theory from Christopher Neidhöfer and Robert Hasegawa. Currently based in France as a fellow of the 2023-24 George Ladd Prix de Paris, he is also attending the graduate specialization program in instrumental composition at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg. Danniel is a PhD candidate in music composition at UC Berkeley studying with Edmund Campion, Ken Ueno, Myra Melford, and Carmine-Emanuele Cella. 

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Statement

 

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In my ongoing exploration as a composer and researcher, I am deeply engaged in a multifaceted examination of musical gesture, instrumentality, cultural identity, and the possibilities of musical expression of complex sounds. These inquiries are fundamentally intertwined with the collaborators—the bodies and minds that animate the music onstage.  

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Central to my artistic inquiry is the notion that the exploration of embodiment serves as a catalyst for generating unique event-artifacts. This conviction propels me to investigate the interrelationship between embodied gestures, form-bearing materials, and the physicalities inherent to New Music instrumental performance. This exploration leads me into a creative realm where temporality merges with the gestural potential of context-specific instrumental techniques and instrument preparation strategies. As a methodological framework, I delve into the intersection of instrumentalists' skills and their potential for transferability, exploring what may be perceived as expanded modes of instrumental play. However, this exploration is accompanied by a critical examination of the conventions of New Music and its interaction with subjective experiences.

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I am dedicated to fostering dialogues that draw from Afro-diasporic references and the concept of 'creolization,' which serve as conceptual wellsprings for my compositions. This exploration represents a utopic-syncretic motivation, driving my quest to discover interstates between the sonic realization of notated music and its representation. By integrating technology as both tool and medium, I delve into context-specific circumstances of sound production, negotiating spaces where subjectivity and agency intertwine amidst the vastness of sonic worldbuilding.

 

Additionally, my journey is guided by an inquiry into a pedagogical dimension, as I engage in debates concerning the role of composers in communicating their own practice, acting within collaborative contexts, as a communicator of paradigms of music-making, and how their space in music could intersect with broader societal dialogues.

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• CNMAT Profile (UC Berkeley)

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• CV