David O, composer

Born: June 2, 1970, in Salinas, CA

Known to thousands of los angeles children as: “The Professor,” as composer and performer for six years in The Voyage of the Global Harmony, part of the LA Phil’s “Summersounds at the Hollywood Bowl.”

Has taught hundreds of LAUSD 5th-graders as: a Master Teaching Artist and composer with the LAMC’s educational outreach program “Voices Within.”

Original musicals: The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip and The Legend of Alex, both commissioned by Center Theatre Group’s P.L.A.Y. Program; Atalanta, based on the story from “Free To Be You And Me”; other compositions for the theatre include the a cappella vocal score for Hippolytos, the inaugural production at the Getty Villa, and a score for voices, piano, percussion, and kazoos for Ubu Roi at A Noise Within.

Musical director: world premiere of Jason Robert Brown’s 13 at the Mark Taper Forum; the West Coast premiere of Michael John LaChiusa’s The Wild Party and Little Fish

Awards: Ovation Award for the score of Ubu Roi; LA Drama Critics Circle, LA Weekly, and Garland Awards for musical direction of multiple productions including 13, The Wild Party, and the world premiere of The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World

Other choral compositions: Elements, with text by the ancient Greek philosopher/poet Empedocles, commissioned by the Sacramento Master Singers; Dadme, with text by Pablo Neruda, commissioned by the Eagle Rock Arts Center; arrangements and compositions featured in the Warner Brothers film License to Wed.