Lecturer
As a recipient of a Fulbright Performing Artist Lecturer Award to Asia, David was one of the first American brass players to give solo recitals, master classes, and conduct chamber music and brass ensembles in China at both the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and The Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He also won a grant through the Asian Cultural Council, and taught and performed at Seoul National University in Korea. His exceptional skills have seen him to some of the most respected music schools in the United States, including Juilliard School of Music (Pre-College Division), Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, NYU, and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. His expertise and teaching style have led him to coach the Verbier Festival Orchestra brass section in Switzerland during the summers.
David has also been a Visiting Lecturer in Film at Yale, University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University.
David is a lecturer for Cassidy and Fishman, a company providing some of the world’s most lauded virtuosos in the world of music, as well as masters in the arts and humanities.
Some of David’s favorite lectures include:
"What Makes Great Opera Great?"
An exploration of one of the most exceptional and enduring treasures of western civilization, highlighting the world's most revered composers, conductors and performers who have brought audiences worldwide to their feet for more than 300 years. David places his students in the seats of some of the most famous opera houses through timeless recordings and spectacular visuals. This intriguing lecture takes a symphonious dive into the masterworks of opera's most celebrated composers, including Mozart, Bizet, Verdi, Wagner and Puccini, as well as performances by such operatic giants as Pavarotti, Callas, Domingo, Price, Caruso, Corelli, Nilsson and Kaufmann, under the interpretation of such masters in conducting as Maestros Levine, Pradelli, Toscanini and Von Karajan.
Students gain a clear understanding of how opera began and why its visual and auditory canon has continued to enchant audiences for centuries.
Movie Music Magic
Composer Bernard Herrmann once said, "Movies need the cement of music." His work provided the melodious backdrop for Hitchcock classics Vertigo, Psycho and North by Northwest, and his observation is spot-on when one considers music's role in movies since the days of silent film a century ago.
This fascinating lecture takes students on a journey through a composer's process of creating a musical score that enhances the viewing experience and collaborates to achieve the director's vision. The union of accomplished directors and exemplary composers has long been regarded as a magical formula resulting in a rich emotional response from global audiences; Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Hermann, George Lucas/Steven Spielberg and John Williams, Federico Fellini and Nino Rota, Francois Truffaut and Georges Delerue are just a few of the creative dyads to be explored.
David analyses the composer's use of melody, harmony, rhythm and orchestration in complementing the story and achieving the desired emotional impact, as well as the challenges he or she may face in the creative process. Excerpts from the films of Ingmar Bergman, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick and Luchino Visconti bring an understanding of the role of great classical music in the scores of film masterpieces.
Great Symphony Conductors
Great Symphony Conductors is one of David’s most popular lectures. In this presentation he analyzes and discusses some of the greatest superstar conductors of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Toscanini, Von Karajan, Bernstein, Levine, Kleiber, Ozawa, Gergiev, Reiner, Muti and Solti.
Beginning with the history of conducting, David’s entertaining lecture, supported by video clips and recordings, brings to life the virtuoso techniques and distinctive styles of these celebrated Maestros.
Additionally, having personally worked with most of the conductors featured in his lecture, David will recount anecdotes and memorable moments from rehearsals and performances with these great artists.