Ronni Kot Wenzell | RKWonline.com

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DOUBLE THE TROUBLE

13th Aug 2011. I'll be going on a Scandinavia tour together with the American prof. (at ISU) Matthew Coley between Aug 19th-29th. The tour includes clinics, concerts, masterclasses, TV and CD recording. New duo pieces by Pius Cheung (CN/US), Marcin Blazewicz (PL) and Andy Pape (DK). Tour sponsored by Danish Arts Council, Edition Svitzer, Marimba One, SABIAN among others. See tourplan on facebook here!

11.000 TICKETS ALREADY SOLD!

11th Aug 2011. I'm conducting a fantastic orchestra to the outdoor theatre production of The Three Musketeers. More than 11.000 tickets are already sold and there's still two weeks to go... :)

NIKE WORKOUT WITH MISTY TRIPOLI

11th Sep 2010. I'll be doing a class together with the wonderful NIKE Elite Instructor Misty Tripoli from Los Angeles, at the NIKE Convention here in Denmark.

NORDIC LINKS SOLO TOUR 2010

Sep 2010. Going on a Scandinavia solo tour with "Nordic Links" that toured USA last autumn. The tour is sponsored by Edition Svitzer, Marimba One, SABIAN Cymbals and The Danish Government.

CONCERT TOUR IN CHINA 2010

Oct 2010. Will be touring the biggest concert halls through out China's biggest cities with Li Biao Percussion Group. Among many other great works, I'll be playing a duo piece together with prof. Li Biao.

MARIMBA ONE & SABIAN CYMBALS

Aug 2010. After many years of dreaming of Marimba One, I got one!! The marimba is simply "WOW"!! And my happiness didn't even stop there! The greatest cymbal manufacturer SABIAN Cymbals also signed me as an endorser. Working with two such superior instruments is just a GREAT pleasure and joy!!!

BIRTHDAY GREETING IN DANISH NEWSPAPER

A big national newspaper sent me a greeting on my 30th birthday. And I was really honored by the nice words they wrote about me. Click here to see it.

Projects

SOLO PERCUSSION

A solo percussion concert presenting different percussion instruments (mallet instruments, multipercussion, metal, skin and tree etc.) and performing music by many different composers. Examples of repertoire: TORSE III for marimba by Akira Miyoshi (JP), ARENA for multipercussion by Tobias Boström (SE), RYTHSONG for marimba by Paul Smadbeck (USA), PSAPPHA for multipercussion by Iannis Xenakis (GR), TALES FOR VIBRAPHONE by Max Leth (DK), AMAZONKA for marimba by Yevhen Stankovych UA), etc..

SOLO PERCUSSION WITH ORCHESTRA

A solo percussion concert with orchestra (strings or full orchestra). Examples of repertoire: ARENA for solopercussion and orchestra by Tobias Boström (SE), ROSEWOOD CONCERTO for marimba and string orchestra by Niels Thybo (DK), CONCERTO FOR MARIMBA AND STRING ORCHESTRA by Ney Rosauro (BR), CONCERT POUR MARIMBA, VIBRAPHON ET ORCHESTRE by D. Milhaud (FR) etc.

BJØRKØE VS WENZELL FEAT. GUDRUN BOJESEN

Playing with Christina Bjørkøe as a duo. Christina is a well renowed pianist with international career. She has won many prices and awards and is now teaching Piano at the Danish music conservatory in Odense as well as touring worldwide. The duo has a program featuring the awardwinning solodancer at The Danish Royal Ballet, Gudrun Bojesen. Examples of repertoire: HUMAN MENTALITIES for piano and marimba by Andy Pape (DK), STAINED GLASSES for piano and marimba by Grigory Smirnov (RU) etc.

NANAZÁ PERCUSSION DUO

A duo with Johan Svitzer in this duo created in 1995. The duo won first price in Berlingske Tidendes Classical Music Competition in 1997 and has played numerous concerts in Europe as well as the CD recording "Appetizer". The duo has a close attached third member (Anders Lynghøj) who plays every part of the duo program and can enter in case of illness to avoid possible cancellations. More information can be found on nanaza.com.

WENZELL & BUGGE - FOLKESLAG

A duo with the award winning folkmusician and violinist Kristian Bugge. They have worked together in many different project throughout the years, among other things Kristian's award winning debut CD (Winner of two Danish Music Awards in 2006 for folk debut of the year and instrumentalist of the year). The duos personal interpretation gives the listener a contemporary insight into the music; a mixture of Ronni's classical background and Kristian's folk background. Find more information on folkeslag.dk.

SOLO PIANO

Playing improvisations on solo piano based on mental impulses or wellknown melody lines as the source of inspiration. The concert is mixed with stories and thoughts from life as a touring musician and cheif pianist at The Royal Danish Ballet, Odense. For some concerts it's possible to have some of the younger kids from The Royal Ballet on visit and performing some coreographies to compositions/improvisations.

PAINTBOX

PAINTBOX is a constellation of some of the top jazz musicians in Denmark founded by pianist and composer Niels Thybo in 2006. It consists of Trine Dansgaard (vocal), Jesper Riis (trumpet), Per Gade (guitar), Peter Hansen (doublebass), Niels Thybo (piano), Ronni Kot Wenzell (mar, vib & perc) and Chano Oskær (drums). The group has recently recorded a Maxi demo and are going in studio again in September 2008.

LI BIAO & FRIENDS

Last but not least "Li Biao & Friends". Li Biao, professor in Beijing Concervatory (China) and Hanns Eisler Concervatory in Berlin (Germany), has gathered an international group consisting of Li Biao (China), Alexander Glöggler & Phillip Jungk (Germany), Claudio Estay (Chile) and I (Denmark) under the name Li Biao & Friends. The group performs mainly in China and Europe in the biggest concert halls and are often joined by TV crews broadcasting the concerts live or making dokumentories.Check out Li Biao's upcoming CD, Li Biao's own website or watch YouTube video here.

Percussion

MARIMBA & PERCUSSION .about me

Marimba and percussion is what it's all about. It's what is closest to my heart! There are many variations of how I got started, but the best and funniest has to be, that whenever I used the bathroom, I would bang on the pipes!

Like the time I went to a restaurant with my family and during the meal I had to use the little boy's room. When I still hadn't returned 30 minutes later, my older brother was sent to find me. As he got closer to the restrooms, he knew I was alright – he could hear me banging away happily on the pipes..!

My first percussion teacher was Søren from Hørsholm Music School. We started out on the snaredrum and I couldn't have been very old, for shortly after, we were in need of dividing one whole note into two half notes which was a problem for me, for I had yet to learn division! Therefore Søren decided to focus more on key instruments instead and my learning the different notes, but that soon became boring, so I quit.

When I finally resumed, the music school had moved to better premises and had also a new teacher – Stephen Henriksen. Stephen soon sent me to teachers specializing in piano, eartraining and ensemble playing, but when the time came for me to take percussion lessons with now former Royal Orchestra musician, Ole Pedersen, I had become so attached to Stephen, that I would rather stop playing than change teachers.

Looking back, I'm glad I changed my mind, for what Ole Pedersen has meant to me is indescribable. Under his guidance I joined the Hørsholm Percussion & Marimba Ensemble which took us on numerous tours around Europe, made several CD-recordings, learned about stage performance both as a soloist and an ensemble player, and getting to know the right people in the business via the Royal Orchestra. His personal commitment has also meant that I see him more as a family member – an extra grandfather!

During my time with the ensemble, I made a lot of friends, some of which I still see today. Amongst these are Johan Svitzer with whom I won 1st Prize at Berlingske Tidendes Classical Music Competition in 1997, and Henrik Malmgreen with whom I recorded the CD "12 o'clock Tales" in 1999.

In 1999 Henrik, Johan and I auditioned at The Carl Nielsen Academy of Music Odense, and we were all accepted, along with another boy named Anders Lynghøj. Our teacher at the academy was Søren Monrad who is the solo-timpanist with the Royal Orchestra – an absolute sublime and almost cultic musician. Without his help and understanding, I'm not sure that I would have been able to go through with my education following the death of my parents in 1999 and 2003.

In 2002 I went on to join the Music Performance Diploma classes at the academy, which is now headed by Professor Erik Kaltoft. Through these classes, I have become acquainted with some great musicians, dancers, actors etc. The Music Performance Diploma education gives students an opportunity to work with other artforms, such as modern dance, drama and vocaltraining. The purpose is to provide us with as wide an insight into the above mentioned artforms so as to make us able to create the complete performance. An education which I highly recommend.

About two years ago, I met the Chinese professor and percussion virtuoso Li Biao. We talked about doing something together and I managed to arrange a tour in Scandinavia. An unforgettable and also very rewarding experience for me. Subsequently, Li Biao invited me to China for a month this autumn and also to perform a soloist gig with the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany) next Spring, which I am looking forward to.

On top of that, I was also asked to play my first concert as a soloist with Odense Symphony Orchestra under the guidance of American conductor, Jordan Brown. The concert took place at Odense Concert Hall in August for 1100 people. Besides me people were also able to hear the Polish pianist Karolina Bogus playing first movement of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2.

I play exclusively on Studio49's C-marimba. Their new model is much like its predecessors, but apart from the amazing sound, it has a lot of new fabulous features like leaving the deepest tones at home and saving both room and weight if your tourplan allows it.

In this matter of fact, the composer and pianist Niels Thybo has written a piece for me called "Rosewood" (for marimba, percussion & string orchestra), which is named after the sound of my Studio49 C-marimba. I remember the first time Niels and I met up to work on this piece. When he heard the sound coming from the instrument, he took a step back and said: "That's not a marimba... That's a completely different instrument!" which I was extremely pleased to hear. The piece is about 10 minutes long and has it's world premier at my final exam on November the 16th 2005.

My exam went really good and it appears that the audience had a great experience which is the most important thing. This is also because of all the people who was involved and whom I thank. Niels Thybo for composing ROSEWOOD CONCERT; String Orchestra (18 strings); Ulla Schmidt for lenting out her Cimbalon; Raphael Solholm for light design; Torben Sminge for the sound engeneering; Sara Veinholt for your work with fabric and personal assistance; Mariana Ottosson, Britta Hällstig, Thomas Poulsen & Henrik Hansen among others for your labour. And thanks a lot to the sponsors: Badstuen DK for printing PR Material, Panache L. Ramono for cooking, PS Car Rental for helping with transportation. Thanks!

After graduation I was offered to teach the Music Performer Diploma students at the academy in performance and PR. My lessons are focusing on their performance concerts where I'm teaching the students in creationg a complete performance and in this way expanding their knowledge on performance possibilities available as well of their know-how.

In addition to this, I'm participating in lots of different and exiting projects like CD recordings, concerts and tours, cooperational projects, doing international masterclasses etc.

Piano

PIANO .about me

My musical career actually began with the piano... At an early age I was given a small toy keyboard for my birthday. I soon managed to memorize the four tunes the keyboard could play, and as it only could play one note at a time, my father replaced the toy with a big black CASIO keyboard which could do almost anything. I especially recall the sound of a helicopter...

My timeline is a bit muddled, but from what I have been told, I composed my first piece of music at age 7. Later, it became the 3rd movement of a small symphony.
I also collected all kinds of instruments at the time and in my naïve child-like way, I wanted to be the best in the world on every instrument.
The next step was the guitar and I even managed to compose a few little pieces. My uncle tuned the guitar for me, but when I couldn't get the same sound out of it as before the tune-up, I soon lost interest.

By recommendation, I started taking piano lessons at Hørsholm Music School. My teacher was German, Edwin Kammerer who now lives in the northern part of Sealand. Once, I had to rehearse a piece as homework. When I returned the following week, I could play it in every key. After that, he mainly gave me melody lines where I had to do the harmonizing. He also taught me elements of eartraining, improvisation and composition. All these years later I'm eternally grateful to him!

When I was 13, I played at my schools graduation project. The graduates had to run a pretend restaurant for a week. One night, I was approached by a man who offered me a job as a pianist at the culturehouse TROMMEN in Hørsholm which turned out to be five exciting years. One day I could be playing at a fancy reception for a bank, and the next night I would help out in the cloakroom when the grown-ups had their Christmas party.

I recall one embarrassing moment. One night, one of Denmark's leading bands was playing and the house was full of people dining before the show. As house pianist, I was to play during dinner. Imagine, me on stage bathed in spotlights and suddenly getting incredibly tired. I tried resting my head on the piano looking as if I really became attached to the music. The next thing I knew was waking up not knowing how long I had been out. As a weak try to get back on track I softly faded into the music, finished the piece and took a break!

When I started at The Carl Nielsen Academy of Music Odense, I had to have 2 years obligatory piano lessons. After only a year, I took my exam and scored the highest grade. My teacher at the time, Rodolfo Llambías, was always laughing and telling me that I suffered from telephonitis as much as I was on my mobile constantly.

s While studying, I often accompanied the classical singers. Mainly at their "Wiener Café" which was lead by the head of the department, operasinger Lars Waage but also for concerts and recordings.

In 2003 I was offered a part-time job as a pianist at the Royal Theatre's Ballet School and in August 2005 I was offered the job as Chief pianist, full time. Though having enjoyed the work at The Royal Ballet, I decided to resign 2007 due to the increased international invitations. Since then I've kept my piano on single solo concerts.

Photo

PHOTO .about me

Go to portfolio!

My interest for photography began about 10 years ago during a tour in Austria. I took a photo of a street musician which turned out pretty good. I then started to play around with my camera and discovered the many features it had and through time I have taken quite a lot of photographs...

The first eight years, productivity was slow because of my passion for music as well as the cost of developing. In 2003 however, I got my hands on a digital camera which made my life a whole lot easier, both financially and artistically.

I have up until now done numerous photo sessions, all very different. From press material for corporations and musicians to modelling shots. A selection of my portfolio can be seen be accessing the link below.

Unfortunately I'm not able to show my best shots as a result of copyright-restrictions. Enjoy!

Go to portfolio!