Macbride, David

Of Eurasian heritage (his mother was born in Beijing), David Macbride was born in Berkeley, CA on 3 October 1951. His principal teachers include Edward Diemente (of the Hartt College of Music), and Jack Beeson and Chou wen-chung (of Columbia University). He has written numerous works, ranging from solo, chamber and orchestral music to music for film, TV, dance and theatre, with particular emphasis on music for percussion and music for voice. His works have been performed extensively in the United States and abroad: recent performances include the Hartford Symphony, the Arditti String Quartet, League ISCM, Percussive Arts Society International Convention, World Saxophone Congress, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Upcoming performances include the Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center premiere of A Muse, written for the Avalon String Quartet and commissioned by Concert Artists Guild. The Royal Spanish Chamber Orchestra performed Poet in New York on its tour of Spain during the Garcia Lorca Centennial in 1998-99. Awards include the Georges Enesco International Composition Prize, two Leo Snyder Memorial Composition Prizes sponsored by League ISCM Boston, the Composers Inc. Prize and two Connecticut Commission on the Arts individual artists grants. Commissions include Chamber Music America, Performers of Connecticut, and the Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra. Macbride's compositions are recorded on Concora, Hartt/Next Exit, Opus One, Owl/Starkland, and True Media Recordings. A solo CD of his works is available from Composers Recordings Inc. (CRI). Alex Ross of the New York Times writes: "...Macbride achieves a remarkable balance of technical rigor and free spirited invention... Composers Recordings has done justice to a distinctive voice in American music." Two other solo CDs entitled Conundrum: The Percussion Music of David Macbride featuring Benjamin Toth and In Common: Duets by David Macbride have been recently released by Innova Recordings. His music is published by Media Press and Smith Publications.

David Macbride passed away in 2018. His memorial concert, which contained many of his compositions, can be found here.