Members

Danny Hahn  

 

Composer, Director of NeoKitsch

 

Danny is a composer, sound designer and teacher in all production stages of music, film and theatre. He has worked in the industry for 10 years developing a wide range of projects internationally. He started working globally as a film maker and sound designer, producing and directing media for companies such as Apple and Vodaphone, then went on to direct, edit and film features, shorts and also educational documentaries which have been distributed across schools in the UK.

Having worked extensively with filmmakers from London, Milan, L.A. and Berlin, Danny has  developed a large portfolio of work, with credits in UK Film Council, B3 Media, Arts Council England, Sky One and MTV productions. His works have been presented at BAFTA screenings and film festivals. He has arranged the sound, recording and also performed live music in over 20 theatre productions and musicals such as West Side Story. Danny has performed for live events and concerts in venues and concert halls such as the Royal Festival Hall, London. 

For film, Danny specializes in writing feature scripts in a variety of genres, and teaches film production to graduates, young adults and children. For audio production, he specializes in genre music, thematic melodies and leitmotiv for film. He composes ambient, classical, experimental and traditional scores, as well as keeping up to date with contemporary electronic music. 

In a nutshell, Danny’s childhood was spent playing the violin and watching a monstrous amount of movies. As an adult, he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Film and Video at the London College of Communication. After meeting the much respected screenplay lecturer Robert McKee, he developed a life long love for writing.

Danny trained as a musician and composer at an early age with his father Professor Detlef Hahn. He studied the violin for ten years then went on to learn contemporary and traditional composition at the Guildhall School of Music. As well as learning the violin, Danny also learned to play the mandolin, vintage synthesizers and the theremin. After working with actors and film producers such as the comedy group ‘The League Of Gentlemen’, and getting his name in credits of film and television productions, Danny’s career as composer and scriptwriter began to flourish in his early twenties. 

David Way

 

Violin, Viola

 

David Way studied violin with Detlef Hahn on a scholarship at the Guildhall School of Music, London. As a student he formed the Hill Quartet, which appeared at the Cambridge Festival, and he was leader of the Westminster Camerata, collaborating with them as soloist in Bach’s Fourth Brandenburg Concerto.On graduating, he joined the first violin section of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. In Norway he worked as alternating principal second violin in Stavanger and Trondheim. In Spain, he has worked as guest leader of the Real Filharmonica de Galicia. Recent recital appearances have included Radcliffe Observatory, National Opera Studio, Open University, Santa Maria della Scala (Siena) and the Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer. He has also performed many of the famous violin concertos with orchestra. In September 2007, he gave a recital for Paganini’s 225th birthday, at the Westgate Chapel, Lewes.

David is a member of Syncopation, which specialises in music by Black composers. He has embarked on exiting new recording projects with Danny Hahn and Keefe West. You can listen on http://www.myspace.com/westactonman.

David has found a voice on the viola, considerably broadening his performing activities. He is active teacher at all levels. His class includes beginners and professionals.

Angela M. Caesar

 

Singer, Soprano

ANGELA CAESAR was born in Manchester. She studied voice at Trinity College of Music, London and at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland where she worked with the distinguished soprano and contemporary music expert Phyllis Bryn-Julson.

Angela has worked with the Royal Opera House, the English National Opera and many of the regional opera companies performing roles such as Alice Ford in Falstaff, Gianetta in L’Elisir d’Amore and Suor Angelica.

She has been a featured soloist in television and radio performances of Carmina Burana, Porgy and Bess, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and the Pergolesi Stabat Mater.

Angela has also performed in various contemporary music projects, workshops and recording sessions with composers such as Oscar winner, Dario Marianelli, Jonathan Dove, Errollyn Wallen, Dominique Le Gendre, Julian Philips and Shirley Thompson, at venues such as, the South Bank and the Linbury Studio.

She has performed recitals at musical festivals such as Chichester, Covent Garden and The City of London.

Her collaborations with jazz and classical music include a recording with saxophonist Chris Bowden, performances with Michael Garrick, Jessye Norman and the UK tour of “All Rise” featuring Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra.

In the U.S.A., Angela made her debut at Carnegie Hall, New York as the first prize winner of the Centre for Contemporary Opera’s International Opera Competition.

Angela has performed in, A Nitro at the Opera at the Linbury Studio in the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and for BBC 4, Kismet at the Arcola Theatre, the opera premiere of Another America: Fire at Sadler’s Wells, for PUSH 04 and Coleridge -Taylor’s Dream Lovers at the National Opera Studio.

She has appeared as The Moon, in the Olivier Award winning production, Caroline, or Change at the National Theatre and in productions of Mass Carib, An Evening of Soul Food and An African Cargo with the Nitro Theatre Company as part of the Greenwich Festival.

Angela recently performed as a Principal and Soloist with English Touring Opera in their productions of Rusalka and J’attendrai and as Grace Kumalo, in Lost in the Stars for BBC Radio 3 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

She has assisted with educational projects for the Tête à Tête Company, *Cre8nrg Company, syncopation and The Bold Balladiers.

Michael Doherty

 

Arranger, Orchestrator

Michael was born and raised in Derry, Northern Ireland. From an early age, he learned the violin and piano and sang in choirs. Initially opting to focus on violin playing, Michael received some of the finest training available, learning from the Brodsky and Medici String Quartets, as well as winning a scholarship to the internationally acclaimed Apple Hill Summer School in New Hampshire, USA. These experiences were key to the evolution of his own musical language, and soon after returning from the USA he began to compose.

              In 2008, Michael graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music with first class honours and became an SPNM Shortlisted composer for his concert music. Upon graduating, he embarked upon an apprenticeship with the Oscar-winning composer Gabriel Yared, working on film and radio projects and honing his talent in screen composition. In 2009, he orchestrated and arranged for Australian guitarist James Collins’ debut album, “The Way You Look Tonight”, now an exciting commercial release in Australia. Last year has also saw him signed by the publishing company Woodwork Music.

In 2010, Michael continues to compose media music for an international client base, as well as receiving concert music commissions from artists in the UK and Ireland.