David Vess is a New England-based composer, conductor and musician. His music has been characterized by a sensitivity to sonority, unrelenting energy and evocative narratives. The Brockton Enterprise described the premiere of his work "Ignite" as "a real barnburner". He was awarded the 2016 Roger Sessions Memorial Composition Award and was the winner of the 2014 Sinfonietta Composition Competition, both at the Boston Conservatory. Vess`music has been commissioned and performed in the US, Canada, Italy and Japan by ensembles and soloists such as the Brockton Symphony Orchestra, violinist Sharan Leventhal, cellist Kevin MacFarland, ShikiDuo, Boston Musica Viva, and the International Contemporary Ensemble.
David is a fierce advocate for new music, having conducted numerous premieres in the Boston area. He was the artistic director for Chimera New Music, a concert series local to Boston, where he managed and conducted several concerts featuring composers and performers from the Greater Boston community. He made his operatic debut by conducting the world premiere of Greg Nahabedian`s chamber opera "War is a Racket". He has served for 3 years as a guest conductor for the Boston Conservatory`s Contemporary Ensemble kontraBAND, leading them in an annual concert of new works by student composers. He is currently serving as assistant conductor to Maestro Andrew Altenbach at the Boston Conservatory Opera Department. He made his orchestral conducting debut at PRISMA located in British Columbia, Canada.
As a tubist, David enjoys a varied stylistic career. From playing with the Duxie Diehards, Bailey Street Brass Quintet, and the Cape Ann Symphony, David savors leaping across genres. He is proponent of improvisation, performing with his improv ensemble, the Inner Ear Trio. He studied with Oystein Baadsvik in Saint-Irenee, Quebec at the Canadian Music Festival Le Domaine Forget for three summers. He is the principal tubist of the Brockton Symphony Orchestra.
Originally from Asheville, North Carolina, David holds degrees from the Boston Conservatory and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. David currently teaches tuba and composition at Bridgewater State University. He is also on staff at the Ivy Music Academy and Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. When not doing something music related, David enjoys learning about the Alexander Technique, hiking in NH and reading David Mitchell. He lives in Foxborough, MA.