Dirks und Wirtz
Biography Dirks und Wirtz
Reentko is a guitarist, composer and studio musician. His music is a distinctive blend of unorthodox, self-developed percussive playing techniques covering a wide range of styles. He is one of the few guitarists who can claim to be every bit as much in demand in the classical world as in the pop and world music scenes. He also features as a percussionist in some of the ensembles he performs with.
Born in Bad Gandersheim (near Göttingen) in 1979, Reentko first took guitar lessons at the age of 7 – this despite the fact that he had actually wanted to take drum lessons. In 2000 he moved to Dresden to study “Guitar/World Music” under Prof. Thomas Fellow. 2007 saw him become one of Fellow’s fellow lecturer. Many of the performers he now plays with are musicians he met during his studies, a period during which he came into contact with jazz, flamenco and music from outside of Europe. He also spent half a year in Jerusalem in order to become more acquainted with the region’s Arab music. Reentko’s characteristic inquisitiveness, flexibility and willingness to submerge himself – often at very short notice – in new musical projects provide him with the ability to perform with a wide spectrum of ensembles and musicians from a variety of different backgrounds. Some of his projects have also received awards, liko for example the “Annamateur und die Außensaiter” ensemble were awarded the Chanson/Music/Songwriting Prize at the 2008 German Cabaret Awards. Performances have so far taken Reentko Dirks to the Semper Opera House in Dresden, various European concert halls and as far away as China.
Daniel Wirtz, born in 1979, decided to learn guitar at the age of ten. On his instrument as well as in numerous compositions he combines elements of Jazz, classical and traditional music. In 1999 he achieved first place in the competition “Jugend Jazzt” (“Youth Jazz”) in his region Northrhein-Westphalica before he came to Dresden to study the subject of “Guitar Worldmusic” with Prof. Thomas Fellow in 2000. Four years later he finished his studies succesfully and continued studying in Linz, Austria with Michael Langer. As a musician he was active in several theatres (Rheinisches Landestheater Neuss, Crash-Theater Krefeld, Staatsschauspiel/Staatsoper Dresden ) and also performs with the band Ziganimo
