“Guest artist Daniel Alfred Wachs was like icing on the torte. A conductor as well as a pianist, Wachs proved himself a formidable Mozartian in not one, but two of his piano concertos…Concerto No. 11 in F Major, K.413, and No. 9 in E-flat Major, K.271 (“Jeunehomme”)”
-Cincinnati Post
Codalario, December 2021
The “Musica Vitae” Chamber Orchestra coped surprisingly well with flamenco. The director Daniel Alfred Wachs knew how to capture all the accents and rhythms of the dances with surprising naturalness and grace...
Philharmonic Society, May 2018
Philharmonic Society’s Orange County Youth Symphony announces Wachs’ final season and welcomes Dudamel fellow
Orange Country Register,
May 2017
OCYSO, Beckman High joint concert brings out best in both orchestras
Regio7: El Diari de la Catalunya Central, July 2016
Young Musicians at Basilica of Santa Maria, Manresa
Orange Country Register,
April 2016
With the orchestra placed upstage to make room for dancers, Wachs led a suitably witty and firmly crafted reading of Ives’ “Variations on America” as orchestrated by William Schuman, and an excerpt from the early First Symphony
Orange Country Register, March 2016
‘Concerts for Fifth Graders’ look to inspire next generation concert music patrons
Sundays Live on Classical KUSC, January 17, 2016
Podcasts: Members of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra, Daniel Alfred Wachs, conductor, perform excerpts from – Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht, Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, and Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 2 (final movement.)
Musical America, January 2016
The baton-less conductor set the right atmosphere for The Unanswered Question by getting the strings to open with a slow, faint pianissimo, the discordant winds and questioning trumpet sounding forth from somewhere in the balcony…
Los Angeles Times,
January 2016
Led by symphony Music Director Daniel Alfred Wachs, the performance was mature and moving, as was Ives’ “The Unanswered Question” that began the evening with wondrous grace.
Orange Country Register, January 2016
Wachs led a wonderfully clear and patient traversal, finding order in complexity.
“Wachs has brought elegance, passion and a golden tone to The Chapman Orchestra, and has infused the OC Youth Symphony with precision and grace. Think of him as Orange County’s Dudamel.”
-Orange County Register
Arts Alive with Brian Lauritzen on Classical KUSC, January 9, 2016
Podcast: Movses Pogossian, World War One: A Centenary Perspective
Orange Country Register, March 2015
The Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra takes a journey to joy.
LA Phil, 2015
DAW to conduct Turnage U.S. premiere on the LA Phil’s Sounds About Town series
Jacaranda, 2015
DAW to make his Jacaranda: Music on the Edge debut
Orange Country Register,
July 2014
When youth symphony music director and conductor Daniel Wachs is looking to spice things up and pinpoint best practices, he goes straight to the source: the kids.
Orange Country Register,
May 2014
Wachs guided the ensemble with energy, precision, and a welcome sense of clarity and poise. The performance wasn’t just good by standards for younger performers, but forceful and exuberant by any standard: genuinely inspiring, technically proficient, structurally sound. The combined choruses were a powerhouse.
LA Times Culture Monster, March 2014
LA Times Culture Monster selects DAW and OCYSO as top Spring arts 2014: Classical music.
Orange Country Register, 2013
DAW and OCYSO selected as a “Must See” event for 2013-14 by the Orange County Register
The Californian,
February 6, 2013
Early Lesson on Musical Arts
Orange County Register, January 26, 2013
DAW to conduct West Coast premiere by Mark Anthony Turnage in 2013-14
Palm Beach Arts Paper, November 28, 2012
Palm Beach Symphony reaches out to youth with Stravinsky
GoUpstate.com, April 8, 2010
Spartanburg Philharmonic closes season with the classics…
Mark Swed, LA Times,
October 25, 2009
The performance was smashing thanks in no small part to the exceptionally well-practiced pre-professionals, who brought a sparkle to the Salzburgers’ sound that wasn’t there before. Thus a few notes about OCYSO, which is led by Daniel Alfred Wachs, are in order…
Orange County Register, September 3, 2009
O.C. Youth Orchestra to join Mozarteum Orchestra for U.S. premiere
Orange County Register, March 9, 2009
Wachs has brought elegance, passion and a golden tone to the Chapman orchestra, and has infused the OC Youth Symphony with precision and grace. Think of him as Orange County’s Dudamel.
Orange County Register,
May 5, 2008
During the presentation portion of the program, Koshak was named music director emeritus of the ensemble and Daniel Alfred Wachs… his heir
Financial Times,
February 14, 2008
The concert ended with a screening of the 1936 New Deal documentary The Plow that Broke the Plains, supported by a performance of Thomson’s enduring score by members of the Pacific Symphony and the Chapman Chamber Orchestra, expertly synchronised by the conductor Daniel Alfred Wachs…
Sun-Sentinel, January 15, 2008
Wachs’ light, smartly assayed passagework eschewed flourish, hewing to the concerto’s classic sensibility
Chapman University's PROWL, Spring 2007
Chapman’s Music Conductor Moonlights a World Away
Cincinnati Post, June 26, 2006
Guest artist Daniel Alfred Wachs was like icing on the torte. A conductor as well as a pianist, Wachs proved himself a formidable Mozartian in not one, but two of his piano concertos…Concerto No. 11 in F Major, K.413, and No. 9 in E-flat Major, K.271 (“Jeunehomme”)
St. Paul Pioneer Press, March 5, 2005
Wachs proved a revelation, delivering a technically impeccable, emotionally powerful performance of two Mozart piano concertos and a pair of solo works…
The Juilliard Journal, December, 2002
One Brahms Symphony, Hold the Vibrato By DANIEL ALFRED WACHS
Classics Today.com, July 21, 2002
Conductor Daniel Alfred Wachs led the nimble-fingered forces with accomplishment…
Palm Beach Symphony, November 2012
Palm Beach Symphony debuts in the Eissey Theater Presents first ever children’s concert
San Francisco Classical Voice, June 2011
New Arts Complex in Folsom Draws Eyes, Ears, and High Hopes
Dreh Punkt Kultur, November 7, 2010
Der Dirigent Daniel Alfred Wachs aus den USA agierte als inspirierender Sachwalter, der alle Beteiligten präzise durch die Partitur führte. (The conductor Daniel Alfred Wachs from the United States was an inspiring advocate, bringing out every detail of the score with precision.)