David has been teaching cello in the Hudson Valley. He received his Bachelor’s in Music Performance from Franklin Pierce University and his Master’s of Music Performance from Kent State University. During his High School years, David attended the Mannes College of Music’s Preparatory Division where he met and studied with his most influential teacher, cellist William Harry. Harry taught him with a caring and steady hand the ways of learning the cello with a system that was to the point and economical. That “quality over quantity” is the one essential tool for learning the instrument successfully which David still practices with his students to this day.


David then went on to study with Franklin Pierce University’s adjunct faculty cellist Carol Gebhardt. During his college years, David was involved in a rigorous program of performance where he participated in Franklin Pierce’s annual Christmas programs of Handel’s “Messiah” and got his orchestra pit experience playing in Franklin Pierce’s musical productions of “Pippin” and “Fiddler On The Roof” among others. He gained further orchestral playing experience in the local Monadnock region performing with the Monadnock Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of his FPC Professor, David Brandes. The following fall he was asked to become a member of the Keene State College Orchestra under the direction of Apple Hill’s Eric Stumacher where he played in their fall concert series.


After completion of his masters studies, David returned to his native Hudson Valley where he continued to mold cello students there with the same caring and nurturing hand that his mentor Bill Harry instilled in him so many years ago.

Composer/musician/band you’d most want to have dinner with…”Film composer John Williams”

If you were stuck on an elevator and had to listen to one song forever, what would it be…”Nat King Cole’s recording of Eden Ahbez’s song “Nature Boy”

Complete this sentence, “Music is…” … “As William Shakespeare said: “if music be the food of Love, play on.”