Biography
J. David Moore (b. 1962) has been in love with a cappella singing and the romance of word and melody ever since high school. Since then, he has written over two hundred arrangements of vocal jazz, spirituals, barbershop quartet, Celtic mouth music, Civil Rights marching songs, early American hymn tunes, sixteenth-century madrigals, and folk music in Ukrainian, Gaelic, Austrian, Brazilian Portuguese, French, and Latin. His own compositions are shaped by his voracious appetite for music of every era and style. He has written art song, oratorios, music for percussion ensemble, string quartet, wind ensemble, baroque orchestra, and tuned wine glasses. He has written music for worship, dance, and the stage, including the outdoor spectacle Solstice River, created by choreographer Marilee Hardenbergh, which has been performed on the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis every summer since 1997. His recent projects explore music for lute quartet, the poetry of Sylvia Plath, raucous British drinking songs, and the singing meditations of the Taize Community.
He has had a long and productive relationship with The Rose Ensemble, a group specializing in pre-eighteenth century vocal music. This connection has resulted in pieces modeled after medieval and Renaissance music from the courts and cathedrals of Spain, Sweden, and Mexico.
David has founded and directed two professional a cappella ensembles since graduate school: Cincinnati-based The Village Waytes and St. Paul's Dare To Breathe, with whom he performed, recorded, and was awarded the McKnight Fellowship for Performing Artists in 2001.
He has won numerous grants, awards, and residencies from many organizations such as ASCAP, the Jerome Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, and the American Composers Forum. He has been commissioned by many varied organizations such as The Alchemy Project The Arizona Master Chorale, The Choral Arts Ensemble of Rochester, The Minnesota Opera (for whom he wrote a 20-minute opera about alien invasion with a group of fourth-graders), MUSE Women’s Choir, The Sapphire Chamber Consort, Shawn Womack Dance Projects, The South Bend Chamber Singers, and The Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus.
In addition to his own company, Fresh Ayre Music, David’s music is published through Boosey & Hawkes, Colla Voce, Earthsongs, Hinshaw, Mark Foster, Music for Percussion. Transcontinental Music Publications, and Yelton Rhodes Music. He is currently the Director of Music at Nativity Episcopal Church in Burnsville. He loves fresh bread, a cup of tea, the work of Andy Goldsworthy, the books of Edward Gorey, and following his bliss.
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