Danielle Saxon Reeves
Encyclopedia
Danielle Saxon Reeves is an active member of the British banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

 circuit, having played the classical guitar and classical banjo since the age of 9. Danielle is a former student of the well-renowned British-based, Australian classical guitarist, Craig Ogden and a graduate of the Birmingham Conservatoire.

She is one of only a handful of professional classical banjoists worldwide and is often to be found promoting this unusual instrument at rallies and festivals throughout the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. She is also a committee member and adjudicator for the British Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar Federation. She is currently developing the classical banjo syllabus for Victoria College and has commissioned a number of new works for the instrument by contemporary British composers.

Reeves has performed at The Royal Festival Hall at The South Bank; The Bolivar Hall, London; the CBSO centre in Birmingham and the Royal Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

The MFO
Danielle directs the Midlands Fretted Orchestra, which she founded in September 2001, to promote the playing of fretted instruments in an ensemble setting. The orchestra is based on the principles of the original fretted orchestras which were popular in the 19th Century, and is one of only a dozen similar ensembles in the UK. The ensemble recently won a place on the “Adopt a Composer” Scheme run by SPNM and Making Music. This has led to some ten new works being commissioned by the orchestra from composers across Europe and America, which were premiered in Autumn 2007.

During the summer of 2005, Reeves formed a transatlantic partnership with fellow classical banjoist Douglas Back, who is based in Alabama, USA. They played a series of highly successful concerts which included a performance at Bath Banjo Festival. Future plans include recording of banjo music by English composers and another tour in 2008.

Dodici Corde
In 2009, Danielle and fellow Midlands Fretted Orchestra guitarist Mark Willets, created Dodici Corde, a guitar duet partnership whose purpose was to promote the Early Romantic Guitar; repertoire that was seldom played for nearly two centuries.

External links

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