Daniel Lentz (born March 10, 1942,

Latrobe, Pennsylvania Latrobe ( ) is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,060 as of the 2020 census. A part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, it is located near Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Ridge. Latrobe was incorpo ...

, United States) is an American composer and artist.

Biography

Lentz achieved notability as a musician while a student at St. Vincent College and at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

, when he was awarded a fellowship in composition at

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

in the summer of 1966. This was followed by a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

in Electronic Music in 1967–68, which was completed in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden. He then became a visiting lecturer at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

in 1968. In 1970 he focused more on composing and performing. At this time he also formed a music ensemble, the California Time Machine, which toured North America and Europe.Arthur Sabatini, Grove Music Online (2001), "Lentz, Daniel K(irkland)." In 1972, Lentz was the first American to win the

Gaudeamus International Composers Award The Gaudeamus International Composers Award is made by the Gaudeamus Foundation. The prize is awarded yearly, to a young composer at Dutch music concert, ''Gaudeamus Muziekweek''. The Gaudeamus Foundation had held an annual music week of Dutch ...

. Since then, he has won a number of other awards and grants. Lentz then formed and led another music ensemble, the San Andreas Fault, which made several tours of the North America and Europe performing ''Missa Umbrarum'' (Mass of Shadows) (1973) amongst other works, and released several recordings in Europe. Returning to California, Lentz formed the Daniel Lentz Group in Los Angeles. This ensemble has toured much of the world and has released a number of recordings. His 1987 album '' The Crack in the Bell'' was the first contemporary classical release from

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

. As an artist Lentz creates acrylic sculptures notably his Illuminated Manuscript series., which are three-dimensional realisations (i.e. the score) of a recorded musical work by Lentz that accompanies each. According to family lore, Lentz is of partial

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People, fictional characters and language * Seneca (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname : :* Seneca the Elder (c. 54 BC – c. AD 39), a Roman rhetorician, writer and father ...

heritage through one of his great-grandmothers. His ''O-ke-wah (North American Eclipse)'', a composition for 12 voices, drum, bone rasps, and bells whose first version was written in 1974, is based on a traditional Seneca ritual dance for the dead. He has a daughter from his first marriage and now lives in Southern California.

Grants, fellowships, and awards

*Rockefeller Foundation, Bellagio Center, Italy, Music Composition, 2012 *Opus Archives, Pacifica Institute, Music Composition, 2010 *Phoenix Arts Commission Grant, Music Composition, 2000 *2 Arizona Commission In The Arts Grants, Music Composition, 1992, 1997 *3 Institute For Studies In The Arts Grants, Arizona State University, Music Composition, 1993, 1995, 1996 *5 National Endowment For The Arts Grants, Music Composition, 1973–96 *D.A.A.D Grant, Music Composition And Research, Berlin, Germany, 1979–80 *3 Seed Fund Grants, New York, Music Composition, 1976, 1978, 1980 *California Arts Council Grant, Music Composition, 1976 *Howard Foundation Grant, Brown University, Music Composition, 1974 *First Prize, International Composers Competition, Stichting Gaudeamus, Holland, 1972 *Creative Arts Institute Award, University Of California, Berkeley, 1969 *Fulbright Fellowship, Sweden, Electronic Music And Musicology, 1967–68 *Samuel Wechsler Music Award, Brandeis University, 1967 *Tanglewood Composition Fellowship, 1966 *N.D.E.A. Fellowship-Scholarship, Brandeis University, 1965–67 *Teaching Fellowship, Ohio University, 1962–65

Discography

* ''In a Word'' (with Ian William Craig) (2022, FRKWYS/RVNG International) * ''Voices'' (Aoede Records) * ''Wild Turkeys'' (Aoede Records) * ''wolfMASS'' (Aoede Records) * ''Point Conception'' (Cold Blue Music), (Aoede Records) * ''Huit ou Neuf Pieces Dorées à Point'' (Aoede Records) * ''Collection'' (Aoede Records) * ''Self Portrait'' (Aoede Records) * ''Butterfly Blood'' (Aoede Records) * ''Missa Umbrarum'' (New Albion Records) * ''Portraits'' (New Albion Records) – with

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

Paul Dresher Paul Joseph Dresher (born January 8, 1951, in Los Angeles) is an American composer. Paul Dresher was born and raised in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. From an early age, he was surrounded by music, deeply influenced by the sounds of Elvis Presl ...

Ingram Marshall Ingram Douglass Marshall (May 10, 1942May 31, 2022) was an American composer and a onetime student of Vladimir Ussachevsky and Morton Subotnick. Early life and education Marshall was born in Mount Vernon, New York. He was the son of Bernice Dou ...

, and Stephen Scott * ''Apologetica'' (New Albion Records) * ''b.e.comings'' (Fontec/Rhizome Sketch Records) * ''Walk into My Voice'' (Materiali Sonori) – with

Harold Budd Harold Montgomory Budd (May 24, 1936December 8, 2020) was an American music composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles and raised in the Mojave Desert, he became a respected composer in the minimal music and avant-garde scene of Southern California ...

and Jessica Karraker * '' Music for 3 Pianos'' (Virgin/EMI Records) – with Harold Budd and Ruben Garcia * ''The Crack in the Bell'' (1987, Angel/EMI Records) * ''On The Leopard Altar'' (1984; reissued 2006 by Cold Blue Music) (Icon Records) * ''After Images'' (Cold Blue Music) * ''Spell'' (ABC Command Records) * ''Dancing on Water'' (Cold Blue Music) – contains ''Song(s) of the Sirens'', with Peter Garland, Michael Byron, Rick Cox, Jim Fox and others, * ''Cold Blue anthology'' (Cold Blue Music) – contains ''You Can't See the Forest ... Music'', with

, Chas Smith,

, Michael Byron, Jim Fox, and others (Cold Blue Music) * ''Los Tigres de Marte'' (Cold Blue Music)

References

External links

* *
Aeode Records (Lentz’s label)

New Albion Records

Cold Blue Music

Lentz interview by ''The Mouth Magazine,'' 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lentz, Daniel 1942 births Living people People from Latrobe, Pennsylvania 20th-century American classical composers 21st-century American classical composers American male classical composers Angel Records artists American electronic musicians Musicians from Pittsburgh Musicians from Albuquerque, New Mexico Gaudeamus Composition Competition prize-winners Classical musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Saint Vincent College alumni Brandeis University alumni Seneca people