David Bernard, Music Director

David Bernard, Music DIrector

Called “the Johnny Appleseed of Classical Music” by Long Island Weekly, Maestro David Bernard has helped the Arts thrive through his innovative approaches to audience and orchestra building as music director and guest conductor. Since his appointment as Music Director of the Massapequa Philharmonic in 2016, Maestro Bernard has driven the growth of the Massapequa Philharmonic both artistically and in its community engagement. In addition to serving as Music Director of the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony and the Eglevsky Ballet, he is an active guest conductor, appearing with the Brooklyn Symphony, the Dubuque (IA) Symphony, the Greenwich (CT) Symphony, Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Island Symphony, the Litha Symphony, the South Shore Symphony and ensembles from the Manhattan School of Music.  

As a conductor of ballet, David Bernard has worked with dancers from the Eglevsky Ballet, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet and the Miami City Ballet companies, including Jared Angle, Tyler Angle, Santiago Castañeda, Ji Young Chae, Jeffrey Cirio, Sarah Gavilla, Miriam Miller and Unity Phelan.

David Bernard is the founder and Director of InsideOut Concerts, Inc., a pioneer and innovator in the design, development and production of immersive classical music events, and is inventor of US Patent No. 11,673,070 entitled “Methods and Systems for Arranging Seats for Audience Members and Musicians.” Bernard’s work using these methods in concerts and events resulted in not only increased tickets sales, but also increased organic new audience acquisition.

Bernard is the First Prize winner of The American Prize Orchestral Conducting Competition (professional division) 2019. In presenting this award, the panel of judges commented:

“Conducting from memory, David Bernard exhibits remarkable skill and considerable elan in a vibrant reading of Stravinsky "Rite of Spring." Not content with a cool, furrowed-brow approach to this music, his interpretation is alive to the nuances of color and, indeed, the dramatic arc, of this legendary masterwork. His is a considerable achievement by any standard.” —The American Prize Competition Panel

David Bernard’s critically acclaimed performances and recordings include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at Carnegie Hall (“ taught and dramatic” -Superconductor) , Stravinsky’s "The Rite of Spring" at Lincoln Center (“transcendent...vivid...expertly choreographed” -LucidCulture), a complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies praised for its “intensity, spontaneity, propulsive rhythm, textural clarity, dynamic control, and well-judged phrasing” by Fanfare magazine, Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Symphony (“parts emerge like newly scrubbed details in a restored painting. Bernard and his musicians frequently shed new and valuable light on a thrice-familiar standard” -Gramophone) and an album of Dvořák’s Late Symphonies (“David Bernard treats each of the symphonies with alert and respectful acuity. He trusts Dvořák’s metronome markings, often to surprising and exciting effect, and makes sure the narratives unfold with seamless assurance. Bernard shapes the score with fine control, savouring its tender and invigorating material minus mannerism or bluster.” -Gramophone)

Devoted to the music of our own time, he has presented world premières of scores by Bruce Adolphe, Chris Caswell, John Mackey, Ted Rosenthal and Jake Runestad, and distinguished concert collaborators have included Anna Lee, Jeffrey Biegel, Carter Brey, David Chan, Catherine Cho, Adrian Daurov, Pedro Díaz, Edith Dowd, Stanley Drucker, Bart Feller, Zlatomir Fung, Ryu Goto, Whoopi Goldberg, Sirena Huang, Judith Ingolfsson, Yevgeny Kutik, Anna Lee, Jessica Lee, Kristin Lee, Maxim Lando, Daniela Liebman, Jon Manasse, Christopher Martin, Anthony McGill, Spencer Myer, Todd Phillips and Inbal Segev.