Biography

Norman David is a saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, author, and music educator. Born in Montreal, he moved to the United States in the mid 1970s, residing in Boston, central Maine, and, since 1989, in the Philadelphia area. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Compostion from Temple University, a Master of Music in Composition from the New England Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University. In addition, he completed advanced studies in arranging and woodwinds at Berklee College of Music. He is currently Adjunct Associate Professor and a member of the Composition and Theory departments at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia where, in addition to teaching composition, he lectures in orchestration, jazz history, arranging, and theory. He is also currently Artist-in-Residence at Temple University, where he teaches all jazz arranging courses and conducts ensembles. Additionally, he is a member of the music faculty at the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts where he instructs woodwinds, directs free improvisation ensembles, and lectures in modern music. He has previously been a full-time faculty member at Berklee College of Music, Colby College, and Ursinus College.

David currently directs, performs with, and composes all the music for The Eleventet, his eleven-member professional ensemble, comprised of some of the top jazz artists in the northeast U.S., many internationally-renowned. David’s professional quartet, GROUP 4, dedicated to the presentation of new jazz, has been performing since 1999 in the Philadelphia/New York region. He has composed a huge repertoire for the quartet and regularly adds new works to the book. David has also appeared with, and his jazz compositions have been performed by, among others, George Garzone, Dick Oatts, Tim Hagans, John Fedchock, John Swana, Terell Stafford, and various all-star jazz ensembles. He is a past recipient of a Fellowship Grant in Jazz Composition from the National Endowment for the Arts.

David’s art music compositions have been premiered by, among others, Alea III, The Network For New Music, Les Thimmig, Arne Running, Charles Abramovic, and Jonathan Blumenfeld. His compositions have been cited for excellence by the Artists’s Foundation of Massachusetts, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Vanguard Artists Associates.

David’s text book, Jazz Arranging, was published by Ardsley House in 1998 and, to date, has had substantial sales and continues to be adopted for course work at many colleges and universities. His latest book, The Ella Fitzgerald Companion, an examination of the development and artistry of that great American singer, was released by Praeger Publishers in 2004 and is enjoying tremendous success.