David Bruce (composer)


David Bruce is a British composer of contemporary classical music and a YouTuber.

Early life

Bruce was born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1970, but grew up in England. He began his undergraduate music studies in 1988 at the University of Nottingham, where his composition tutors included Jim Fulkerson and Nicholas Sackman. He continued at the Royal College of Music from 1991 to 1993, where he obtained a master's degree in Composition, studying with Timothy Salter and George Benjamin. He received a PhD in Composition at King's College London between 1995 and 1999, under the supervision of Harrison Birtwistle.

Career

Bruce developed an international reputation as a composer. His work is performed by musicians from around the world, including soprano Dawn Upshaw, klezmer pioneer Giora Feidman and the St. Lawrence String Quartet. Upshaw in particular played an important role in bringing Bruce's music to wider attention. She instigated the commission for his opera A Bird in Your Ear and performed his Piosenki song-cycle at Carnegie Hall and elsewhere. Upshaw was the soloist in a new song-cycle with ensemble, The North Wind was a Woman, commissioned for the Gala opening of the 2009 season by the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center.
His work Gumboots was commissioned by Carnegie Hall for clarinetist Todd Palmer and the St Lawrence String Quartet. His Groanbox was written for New York's Metropolis Ensemble featuring The Groanbox Boys. He wrote Caja de Musica for Concert Artists Guild Winner Bridget Kibbey's Carnegie Hall debut.
Bruce's one-act opera A Bird in Your Ear was commissioned by Bard College and later had performances by New York City Opera as part of the 2009 Vox festival; as a finalist in the National Opera Association's Chamber Opera competition 2008 and with students at New York University. The New York Times described A Bird in Your Ear as "skillfully written and imaginative".
Bruce's earlier chamber opera Push! was commissioned by the Genesis Foundation and premiered by Tête à Tête in London and went on tour in the UK in 2006. Push! was Critic's Choice for 2006 in both The Telegraph and Classical Music Magazine. Other commissions include a series of mini-operas – Out of the Ordinary, for The Opera Group, Has it Happened Yet? for ENO Studios and Tête à Tête; Seven Tons of Dung for Tête à Tête ; incidental music to the Trestle Theatre Company's show The Smallest Person ; and instrumental pieces for the London Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Presteigne Festival and the Lake District Summer Music Festival.
In 2011, another commission for Carnegie Hall, the octet Steampunk, was premiered by Ensemble ACJW at Skidmore College.

YouTube Channel

David Bruce opened a YouTube channel in november 2009. Starting in november 2017, he began to upload educational videos about different aspects of music, usually focusing on traditional western Classical music, but also exploring other genres and traditions, and initiated collaborative composition projects with fellow YouTubers such as Adam Neely, Ben Levin, Martin Keary or Nahre Sol.

Recognition

Operas