Today we’d like to introduce you to David Gaines.
Hi David, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m a classically trained musician and composer. I got involved with music in junior high school back in the 1970s when I was invited to learn an instrument by the band director and after a trip to the band closet chose a lonely looking baritone horn (or euphonium….basically the same thing at that level). I took to it surprisingly quickly and after three or four lessons was in the band. That led to playing in the Connecticut All-State Band as a junior and senior in high school, the Music Educators National Conference All-Eastern United States Band as a senior, and then went on to the Northwestern University School of Music where I played euphonium in the Wind Symphony and the Symphonic Band and also studied bass trombone before switching to composition. I stayed an extra to pick up a second bachelor’s degree in philosophy.
As a composer I went on to get master’s and doctoral degrees, and have continued composing in a variety of forms to the present day.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
People following the road to a professional career in music, either full time or part time, classical or any other genre, will rarely find it smooth. I had a lot of financial worries, but the universe provides and I’ve always managed to land on my feet. I’ve had a lot of support from my family and friends and that has made a big difference.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve composed in pretty much all forms except opera, and I would guess that I’m best known for my two symphonies – the first is for mezzo-soprano and large orchestra with all of the text taken from poems or essays in the international language Esperanto (the first symphony of this kind ever written, as far as we know), and the second is a tribute to Afghanistan’s national hero, Ahmad Shah Massoud, called The Lion Of Panjshir for narrator and symphonic band. I also have several chamber music compositions that have been performed around the world.
I’m most proud of the fact that I achieved my two main compositional dreams: to contribute to what was at the time an almost non-existent repertoire of pieces for euphonium and symphony orchestra (my master’s thesis was a concerto for euphonium and orchestra), and to create a major composition for orchestra using Esperanto.
There’s no doubt that my commitment as a composer to both the euphonium and to Esperanto is what sets me way, way apart from others!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I wish I had had a mentor to guide me along. I was basically on my own all the way up to the doctoral level in terms of career planning. For those just starting out, I would say keep practicing your craft every day and seek out other musicians in a similar situation and cooperate with each other. If you’re a developing composer, make friends with conductors and performers. Write music for the instruments they play and get those live performances that are so important at that stage. Also, it’s important to pick up marketable skills so you can get the classic “day job” when you need to. I did a LOT of that over the years.
The one thing for sure I wish I had known when I was starting out was that I had ADHD, which was unknown at the time and I was only diagnosed as an adult in my late 40s. Looking back post-diagnosis I realized what a negative impact ADHD had on my ability to do virtually everything necessary to be a musician, not to mention the effect it had on my interpersonal relationships with everyone, musicians and non-musicians alike.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://davidgainesmusic.com
- Instagram: davidrgaines
- Facebook: davidgainescomposer
- LinkedIn: davidgainesmusic
- Twitter: davidrgaines
- Youtube: davidrgaines
- Soundcloud: davidgaines
Image Credits
Main image, auditorium photo and studio photo: David Gaines
Head shot: Alaina Allen
Album cover design: Katryn Conlin
