Daniel Rorke is a

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

and soprano saxophonist from Australia who now resides in Ireland. He grew up on Billen Cliffs commune outside of the town of Nimbin, in northern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. Rorke holds a Bachelor of Jazz Studies with first class honour from the

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (SCM) — formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music, and known by the moniker "The Con" — is the music school of the University of Sydney. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious music ...

, and a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in jazz performance from the

Norwegian University of Science and Technology The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Norway and the largest in terms of enrollment. The university's headquarters is located in Trondheim (city), Trondheim, with region ...

"Jazzlinja" in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. While in Sydney, he studied with American musicians

Gordon Brisker Gordon Brisker (November 6, 1937 in Cincinnati, Ohio – September 10, 2004) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Brisker began on piano as a child, and studied reed instruments at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He played with Ralph M ...

and

William Motzing William Edward Motzing Jr. (August 19, 1937January 30, 2014) was an American composer, conductor, arranger and trombonist best known for the award-winning film and television scores and gold and platinum pop album arrangements he wrote in Australi ...

, Australians

Dale Barlow Dale Barlow (born Sydney, Australia, 25 December 1959) is a jazz saxophonist, flute player and composer. He has a Masters of Music degree begun at City College New York under Ron Carter and completed at ANU Canberra. He has received ARIA Awards, A ...

, Dave Panichi and

Col Loughnan Colin John Loughnan (; born 26 October 1942) is an Australian jazz saxophonist, teacher, and composer, best known as a member of the Delltones, Ayers Rock (band), Ayers Rock, Judy Bailey quartet, and as a teacher of saxophone at the Sydney Cons ...

and New Zealand-born pianist

Mike Nock Michael Anthony Nock (born 27 September 1940) is a New Zealand jazz pianist, who lives and works in Australia. Biography Nock was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, but spent his childhood in Ngāruawāhia. Nock began studying piano at 11. H ...

. He also studied the history of contemporary composition with

Richard Toop Richard Toop (1 August 1945 – 19 June 2017) was a British-Australian musicologist. Toop was born in Chichester, England, in 1945. He studied at Hull University, where his teachers included Denis Arnold. In 1973 he became Karlheinz Stockhausen ...

and

shakuhachi A is a Japanese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

with grand master Riley Lee. While in the United States, Rorke took private lessons with pianist

Kenny Werner Kenny Werner (born November 19, 1951) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and author. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 19, 1951, and then growing up in Oceanside, Long Island, Werner began playing and performing at a young ...

and saxophonist

Jerry Bergonzi Jerry Bergonzi (born October 21, 1947) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and educator. Early life and education Bergonzi received a B.A. in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1971 and is the founder ...

. Between 2002 and 2005, he lived in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, Iceland, where he toured and recorded with a number of prominent Icelandic musicians and performed on the recording ''Dansaðu fíflið þitt'', which featured the music of Icelandic bassist Thomas R. Einarsson and won Icelandic Jazz Recording of the Year in 2004. In 2008, Rorke moved to

, Norway, to undertake studies at

conservatory. While there, he studied with

John Pål Inderberg John Pål Inderberg (born 6 August 1950 Steinkjer, Norway) is a versatile saxophonist and one of the leading traditional musicians in Norway. His playing synthethises many different styles, not least when in partnership with Norwegian and America ...

and took

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

lessons with Terje Bjørklund, Odd Johan Overøye and

Henning Sommerro Henning Sommerro (born 3 May 1952 in Surnadal Municipality) is a Norwegian musician, composer and professor at NTNU. Biography Sommerro grew up on the Sommerro farm at Skei in Surnadal Municipality. His name became widely known in 1977 when ...

. He currently runs Satu, an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

for jazz and

improvised music Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous ...

which has released two records so far: ''The Mismeasure of Man'' by Fear of Faces, and ''San'an'' by Daniel Rorke. In 2011, he toured Norway with the Australian pianist

Alister Spence Alister Spence is an Australian jazz pianist and composer. Spence leads the Alister Spence Trio with Lloyd Swanton and Toby Hall. They were nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album in 2004 for ''Flux'' and in 2007 for ''Mercury''. Ban ...

and his trio of Canadian bass player Joe Williamson and the Swedish

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Christopher Cantillo.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rorke, Daniel Australian jazz saxophonists Australian expatriates in Ireland Living people Year of birth missing (living people)