Education
- D.M., Doctor of Music, Indiana University, 1991
- M.M., Master of Music, Indiana University, 1988
- B.S., Bachelor of Science, Indiana University, 1986
David Dzubay was born in 1964 in Minneapolis, grew up in Portland, Ore., and earned a D.M. in Composition at Indiana University in 1991. Additional study was undertaken as a Koussevitzky Fellow in Composition at the Tanglewood Music Center (1990), at the June in Buffalo Festival, and as co-principal trumpet of the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado (1988, 1989). His principal teachers were Donald Erb, Frederick Fox, Eugene O'Brien, Lukas Foss, Oliver Knussen, Allan Dean, and Bernard Adelstein.
Professor Dzubay's music has been performed in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Mexico, and Asia by ensembles including the symphony orchestras of Aspen, Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Detroit, Honolulu, Kansas City, Louisville, Memphis, Minnesota, Oregon, Oakland, St. Louis and Vancouver; the American Composers Orchestra, National Symphonies of Ireland and Mexico, New World Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, and New York Youth Symphony; and ensembles including Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (Montreal), Onix (Mexico), Manhattan Brass, Voices of Change (Dallas), the Alexander and Orion String Quartets, the League/ISCM, Earplay, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players.
His music has been championed by soloists including Christine Schadeberg, Thomas Robertello, Corey Cerovsek, Carter Enyeart, James Campbell, Liana Gourdjia, Eric Nestler, and David Starobin, and conductors including James DePreist, George Hanson, David Loebel, Michael Morgan, Eiji Oue, Richard Pittman, Lawrence Leighton Smith, Carl Topilow, David Wiley, Samuel Wong, Kirk Trevor, and David Zinman.
His music is published by Pro Nova Music, Dorn, and Thompson Edition and is recorded on the Sony, Centaur, Bridge, innova, Crystal, Klavier, Gia, First Edition, and Indiana University labels.
Recent honors include Guggenheim (2007), MacDowell (2006, 2007), Yaddo (2008), Copland House (2008), and Djerassi (2007) fellowships; the 2009 Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival Composition Competition, 2007 Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra Composition Competition, 2005 Utah Arts Festival Commission, 2005 Columbia Orchestra American Composers Competition, 2004 William Revelli Memorial Prize from the National Band Association, 2003 Commission from the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, 2001 Walter Beeler Memorial Prize, 2000 Wayne Peterson Prize; and grants from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music for all-Dzubay CDs by Voices of Change (innova 588) and the Manhattan Brass (Bridge). Dzubay has also received awards from the NEA (1992-1993), BMI (1987, 1988), ASCAP (1988, 1989, 1990), the American Music Center, Composers, Inc., Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Indiana State University, Indiana University (including the "Outstanding Junior Faculty Award"), the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Cincinnati Symphony.
Dzubay is currently professor of music and director of the New Music Ensemble at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. He was previously on the faculty of the University of North Texas in Denton.
He has conducted at the Tanglewood, Aspen, and June in Buffalo festivals. He has also conducted the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Greater Dallas Youth Symphony Orchestra, Music from China, Voices of Change, an ensemble from the Minnesota Orchestra, the Kentuckiana Brass and Percussion Ensemble, and strings from the Louisville Orchestra at the Maple Mount Music Festival. From 1995 to 1998, he served as composer-consultant to the Minnesota Orchestra, helping direct their "Perfect-Pitch" reading sessions, and during 2005-06, he was Meet the Composer/American Symphony Orchestra League Music Alive Composer-in-Residence with the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra.