Daniel Felsenfeld
Daniel Felsenfeld was born 05 January 1970 in Washington, D.C. (USA). He studied composition at the University of California with Margaret Meyer and finished his studies under Arthur Berger and Lee Hyla at the New England Conservatory.
He then settled in Brooklyn and works there as a free lance composer and author. Former commissions and performances include Trinity Wall Street, Simone Dinnerstein, Two Sense, Metropolis Ensemble, American Opera Projects, Opera on Tap, NANOWorks Opera, Pasadena Opera, Great Noise Ensemble Da Capo Chamber Players, ACME, Transit, REDSHIFT, Blair McMillen, Lara Downes, Secret Opera, Alcyone Ensemble, Stephanie Mortimore, Parhelion Trio, Cabinet of Curiosities, New Gallery Concert Series at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, BAM, Kennedy Center, Trinity Wall Street, Le Poisson Rouge, Bargemusic, City Winery, Galapagos Art Space, The Stone, Jordan Hall, Duke University, Stanford University and Harvard University. He also has collaborated with writers like Rick Moody, Robert Coover, Amanda Palmer, Will Eno, Brenda Shaughnessy; has worked with Jay-Z, The Roots, Keren Ann; and is the court composer for John Wesley Harding’s Cabinet of Wonders, the co-founder of the New Music Gathering, and co-director of the Curiosity Cabinet. He is a curator at National Sawdust, and Trinity Wall Street; and a teacher at the Juilliard School and the New York Philharmonic
His compositions include all genres from orchestral music, concertos, chamber music to opera, vocal and choral music. The Concerto for violin and chamber orchestra "Bad Coffee Serenade" was composed in 1994 and first performed on 23 May 2013 by Jennifer Choi (violin), the Ensemble212 under Kyunghun Kim (conductor).
Jennifer Choi described the work in the following words right before the premiere:
"It’s very rhapsodic, full of energy, fast-moving, like caffeine. Daniel has sort of a complexity in his writing, and his language is very unique in that way, but he’s able to capture fun elements, as well–the spirit of the music comes out. When you mix that in there, it kind of goes with the title if you ask me!"
