David Baker is a conductor and arranger based in the Greater New York City area. David's work has represented his passion for both classical and popular genres and the space in between those realms. 

 

During the 2024-25 season, David will be making his conducting debut with the Louisville Orchestra as part of their Music Without Borders series, where he will present a program that explores the commonalities between jazz and classical genres. He will also appear as a guest conductor at the Lake George Music Festival. Currently, David serves as assistant conductor for Steve Hackman's SYMPHONYFUSE productions, such as Brahms X Radiohead and Beethoven X Beyoncé. In this role, David has collaborated with dynamic soloists that Hackman assembled and several orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He will be conducting Hackman's Tchaikovsky X Drake with the Sinfonia Gulf Coast in Destin, Florida this May.

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In 2023, David conducted the premiere of Chris Potter’s "Generations", a full-concert suite for jazz quartet and chamber orchestra, at SFJazz with an all-star lineup including Potter, Craig Taborn, Scott Colley, and Brian Blade. He has also collaborated with trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire for the premiere of his suite, "Porter". David  acted as Associate Musical Director for the 50th-anniversary concert of the San Francisco-based underground rock band, The Residents, where he conducted and arranged songs featuring musicians from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and several guest artists from a plethora of musical mediums. He also assisted Edwin Outwater and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for their residency at the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, Florida, which featured artists such as Jennifer Hudson, Leon Bridges, Lyle Lovett, and Audra McDonald.

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As an assistant conductor, David has worked with the Louisville Orchestra and Britt Festival Orchestra under Teddy Abrams, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra under Eric Jacobsen, and the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute under Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser.​ As an arranger, David has set works of many styles in orchestral, chamber, and popular settings. 

 

​David holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Eastman School of Music, and the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. His main conducting mentors are Edwin Outwater, Mark Davis Scatterday, and Brad Lubman. Other conductors David has worked with include Michael Tilson Thomas and Stéphane Denève.