Cultural Diversity Roster

With triumphs in music capitals from New York to Paris to Moscow, David Eaton has established a reputation as one of his generation’s most accomplished musicians. Since assuming the position of music director of the New York City Symphony in 1985, Mr. Eaton has been instrumental in restoring the orchestra’s reputation as one of New York’s most important cultural institutions. He also served as conductor of the Goldman Memorial Band and led that historic ensemble in its summer concert series in New York City from 1998 to 2000.

In addition to leading the New York City Symphony in its highly acclaimed Lincoln Center concert series at Alice Tully Hall, Mr. Eaton has led the New York City Symphony and its Chamber Ensemble and Brass Choir in numerous concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, the Manhattan Center, Merkin Hall, Harlem’s Apollo Theater, the United Nations and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as concerts in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. After his Carnegie Hall debut in 1989, the New York Daily News hailed the New York City Symphony as “one of America’s finest orchestras.” He has subsequently appeared with the NYC Symphony at Carnegie Hall on four other occasions including a concert during Carnegie Hall’s Centennial Celebration.

In 1988, he led the New York City Symphony on its first international tour. The tour included four concerts in Japan and seven performances at the Olympic Arts Festival in Seoul, Korea. The orchestra’s appearance at the Seoul Arts Center marked the first time that a Western Orchestra had performed at that venue. That same year Mr. Eaton and the NYC Symphony introduced New York audiences to the music of the Academy Award winning composer Tan Dun (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.) The concert, presented at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, featured four of Tan’s works including the world premieres of his Violin Concerto and Third Symphony.

Mr. Eaton made his European conducting in 1989 debut with L’Orchestra Symphonique Francias at the Flaine Summer Music Festival and has made two return appearances with that ensemble in Flaine and at the Salle Geveau in Paris. He was invited to conduct an all-Mozart program with the Neri Symphony Orchestra of Moscow at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory as part of the International Mozart Bicentennial Festival in Moscow.

Other guest conducting appearances include concerts with members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Ukrainian National Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Symphony, the Les Amis Chamber Ensemble of Toronto at the St. Lawrence Performing Arts Center, the Taipei City Symphony Orchestra at the National Concert Hall in Taiwan, the Orquestra Sinfonica Nacional de Guatemala, the Soo Won Symphony (Korea), the Asuncion National Symphony Orchestra (Paraguay), the Goldman Memorial Band at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Repertory Ballet and the Chamber Players of the Americas at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. In 2007 he returned to Korea to conduct the Camerata Chamber Orchestra at the World Culture and Sports Festival.

In addition to his conducting career he has been a prolific composer, arranger and producer with forty-six original compositions and over 600 original songs and arrangements to his credit. Two of his compositions, Fantasie for Violin, Cello, Piano and Strings and his Three Miniatures for Chamber Orchestra were performed at Carnegie Hall by the New York City Symphony under his direction. His symphonic band work, Melavations was dedicated to and premiered by the Goldman Memorial Band at Lincoln Center. Another recent composition, Morning’s Calm for Soprano and Chamber Orchestra, was premiered at the United Nations as part of the International World Peace Assembly in 2001. His orchestral settings of Sephardic folk songs, The Alhambra Suite, received two performances by the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony in 2004 and 2005. The piece was also presented at the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival in 2005.

In observance of the first anniversary of the tragedy of September 11, he was commissioned to write music for the International and Interreligious Federation for World Peace Conference in New York in 2002. The resulting music, The Hope of All Ages featured narrated texts by world leaders in the realms of religion, diplomacy and human rights. This music received subsequent performances at Lincoln Centers Alice Tully Hall in September 2005 at the inaugural ceremony of the Universal Peace Federation, with the Royal Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra in London in 2008 and at with the NYC Symphony the United Nations General Assembly in 2011 and 2012.

One of Mr. Eatons recent composition projects, the Cantata for Peace, Halelu—Songs of David, is a collaboration with the prominent Israeli vocalist, David DOr. In conjunction with Mr. DOr, he produced a recording of the cantata in Tel Aviv in 2006 featuring the Raanana Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia Chorus of Israel. Halelu received its world premiere performance in Belgrade, Serbia under Mr. Eaton’s direction on May 19, 2007. That concert was televised to six other Eastern European countries. A second performance of Halelu took place with the Bulgaria Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus in 2008. Excerpts of the cantata were choreographed for the European Dance and Arts Festival-Salzburg (EDAS) in 2008 and 2009. He also composed new arrangement for David DOrs appearance with the Israel Philharmonic in 2010.

Two movements of his new work, Juxtapositions for Electric Viola and Orchestra, Op.42 were performed by members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in March, 2011 as part of the DSOs Baroque to Rock concert. A performance of Juxtapositions took place in September, 2011 and the Lexington (MI) Bach Festival under his direction. Mr. Eaton has been invited to conduct a second performance of Juxtapositions with the DSO in Detroit in Spring 2012.

A committed advocate for peace and interfaith reconciliation, Eaton has traveled to the Middle East on numerous occasions since 2003 to produce concerts and conferences in association with the Middle East Peace Initiative (MEPI). He has also written articles and appeared at speaking engagements (including at the United Nations) to promote the idea of utilizing art and music in creating an atmosphere conducive to inter-cultural and inter-religious harmony.

His professional relationship with Japanese soprano, Seiko Lee has resulted in numerous concerts, musical arrangements, and recordings that advocate the ideals of peace and reconciliation. Both are charter members of Artists Association for World Peace (AAWP), an organization that encourages artists to use their creative abilities in the most humanitarian and altruistic fashion. Eaton has also produced peace-related concerts and conferences in Asia, South America, and Europe. In addition, he is the President and co-founder of the Peace Music Foundation, a non-profit organization that advocates using music for altruistic purposes.

He has studied at the Ohio State University, the Tanglewood Institute of Music and in 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the Universidad Metropolitana de Asuncin (Paraguay) in recognition of his efforts to promote peace through the art of music.