David Chesky - Orchestral Urban Composer -

David Chesky, a three-time Grammy nominee, is without doubt a modern-day Renaissance man. In addition to his prominence in the audiophile community for the development of new recording technologies, he has earned great respect for his unique, eclectic musical compositions which span jazz and classical idioms. He is the only jazz composer to have ever been nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Contemporary Classical Composition. ' In addition to composing orchestral music, David composes and plays piano with The Body Acoustic. The Grammy-nominated Latin jazz group plays a mixture of Latin jazz music with 12-tone and contemporary classical harmonies

Born in Miami in 1956, David Chesky moved to New York in 1974. Four years later, he officially began his career in music as the composer, arranger and pianist of his own jazz big band. With that ensemble, David performed at every major jazz club and festival (including Storyville, The Village Vanguard, The Newport, JVC, and Monterey Jazz Festivals. In 1978, the Columbia label released his album Rush Hour.

However, David did not limit himself to jazz composition, but he continually studied classical techniques and immersed himself in composing, arranging and orchestrating in both jazz and classical styles. His efforts were first displayed in 1984 when he composed Central Park Morning for the Empire Brass Quintet and Orchestra.

While he was developing as a composer, he was concerned that many recordings were being released in sound that was inferior to what late 20th century recording technology could produce. Thus, in 1986, with his brother Norman, David co-founded Chesky Records. This Grammy-winning label has released numerous classical, jazz and world titles. Their company is known throughout the world as being one of the leaders in the advancement of technological research on recording methods---creating new, advanced recording techniques, in order to make the finest musical recordings currently available. David personally has pioneered and is responsible for the creation of the world's first 128x oversampled recordings, the world's first 96kHz/24bit recordings, and the world's first 6.0 multichannel 96/24 DVD-Audio Discs. In addition to recording, David has designed the acoustic architecture for many audio products. David acts as producer and artistic director on all Chesky Record productions. Undoubtedly, Chesky Records is one of the preeminent audiophile record labels in the world.

Simultaneously with his responsibilities for Chesky Records, David continued his growth as composer, arranger, and performer. In 1987, he released his first jazz quintet recording Club de Sol, which was an unequivocal success, garnering critical raves from the jazz community. Following this release, David pushed forward the possibilities of jazz/classical hybrid with his stunning 1990 release, The New York Chorinhos. Featuring noted Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo and David on the piano, he took the classical Brazilian Chorinho form and updated it by blending Brazilian rhythms with contemporary jazz and classical harmonies. In 1992, he advanced this concept one step further with The Tangos & Dances, a darker and more passionate interpretation of Latin American music. Four years later, David composed The Fantasies for solo piano, a tour de force demonstrating the full potential of the piano as an expressive instrument. The work borrows from the best in Latin music while finding inspiration in the grand tradition of the classical Fantasia form.

In 1997, David composed Three Psalms for String Orchestra, three compositions based upon Psalms 1, 2 & 3 as reflections on inner spirituality in the modern world. He followed this orchestral work with the Oratorio The Agnostic, a synthesis of existential philosophies of the last century into a powerful hymn for modern-day man. In 2001, David recorded Psalms 4, 5 & 6: Remembrance for the Victims of the Modern Holocausts for orchestra, cello, and clarinet soloists. Here, he further explored the relationship between spiritual depravity, oppression, and injustice in our world. In 2002, he composed another oratorio Power & Innocence. This powerful, dark piece, which explores the travesty of child exploitation in the modern world, is scored for full orchestra, choir, boys' choir, soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone soloists.

Just a few days shy of his forty-sixth birthday, David underwent heart surgery. After awakening from the operation, he began thinking about his life in music and how he wanted to change his style. Instead of composing dark, large orchestral works, he decided to utilize the music and rhythms that were closest to him. “We are a nation of rhythms and our orchestral music should reflect this,” he stated. Thereafter, his serious works mix classical, Latin, jazz, hip-hop, and funk into an orchestral style that he calls “urban.”

The urban compositions include several concertos for different solo instruments. Among these are concertos for guitar, piano, trumpet, flute, violin (the flute and the violin concertos appear on his critically acclaimed Area 31 disc), most recently the Grammy nominated virtuosic work, the bassoon concerto.

David has also composed three ballets: The Central Park Dances, Urbanicity, a wild reflection of modern life in a large, fast city, and a full-length children’s ballet The Zephrytine. This latter work represents David’s commitment to fostering musical appreciation in children. Foreseeing our nation's children growing up without exposure to serious music and the possibility of empty concert halls, he was recently inspired to create a fun way to endear classical music to a young audience. The result is Chesky Records Kids, a new division of Chesky Records, which focuses on music education and environmental awareness. The first release from the new division was Classical Cats™, a children's introduction to the orchestra, which was followed by The Snowbears of Lake Louise™. Most recently premiered in New York, in December 2007, The Mice War, David’s opera for children, that teaches about the absurdity of war and acceptance of cultural diversity while exposing them to classical music.

David Chesky draws inspiration and influence from a variety of musical, artistic, and social sources from around the world. He then encompasses and recasts it all with a skill and veracity that affects every listener fortunate enough to hear his music.