Composer, violinist, and conductor David Fulmer maintains a
unique position in today’s musical world. His audacious compositional style – often
noted for it’s formal experimentation, courageous programming, and thrilling
performing abilities have garnered him numerous international accolades. He was just announced the winner of the 14th International Edvard Grieg Competition for Composers; the first American ever
to receive this highly acclaimed award. He
has also been named a winner of the 56th annual BMI Composer Awards, and
was recently presented the prestigious Charles Ives Award (Scholarship) from
the American Academy of Arts and Letters for his original compositions. Other
honors and awards include a special citation from the Minister of Education of
Brazil for his cycle of musical lectures and presentation, the Hannah Komanoff
Scholarship in Composition (2006-07) and the 2005 Dorothy Hill Klotzman Grant
from the Juilliard School, and the highly coveted 2004 George Whitefield
Chadwick Gold Medal from the New England Conservatory.
Upcoming performances of his music will be featured this summer at
the Grieg Festival in Oslo, performed by the renowned Norwegian violinist Ole
Böhn, the Mozarteum Summer Festival in Salzburg, and numerous festivals across
the United States. After the success of
his recent Violin Concerto (2010), commissioned and written for the New
Juilliard Ensemble, David is now working on a number of recently commissioned
projects, including a cello concerto for Fred Sherry, to be premiered in the
fall of 2010. While just having
premiered his Fourth String Quartet (June, 2010), another quartet is already
being sketched for the iO Quartet; In the fall of 2010, the iO’s will present a
showcase concert exclusively of David’s quartet cycle, including the newly
commissioned work that is made possible through support from Meet The Composer.
The Quartet will record his complete string
quartets for commercial release later this year. Other upcoming commissions
include a song cycle for mezzo-soprano and string ensemble for the Monadnock
Music Festival, a new work for the MuSE Ensemble, and a new work for violinist
Stefan Jackiw. Recent compositions have been commissioned by
the iO Quartet, New Juilliard Ensemble, American Composers Alliance Festival,
Zukofsky Quartet, Mimesis Ensemble, Cygnus Ensemble, Italian Academy (Columbia
University), Lyndon Institute, Tetras Quartet, Monadnock Music Festival, among
many others.
He appears frequently and records often with the premiere new
music ensembles Speculum Musicae, the Group for Contemporary Music, the New
York New Music Ensemble, and also with the Second Instrumental Unit, an
ensemble that he co-founded and directs. He has appeared recently on the Great
Performers Series at Lincoln Center, Live from Lincoln Center broadcasts, and
the Center’s annual festivals; performing concerti, chamber music, and solo
works. As the violist of the Zukofsky Quartet,
David tours often performing the pioneering program of the complete string
quartets of Milton Babbitt. He is a founding member of the Axiom Ensemble, and has been a member
of the New Juilliard Ensemble for six years. He has made over a dozen recordings as
violinist and violist for Koch International, Naxos, Mode, and Neuma recording
labels.
His ensemble, the Second Instrumental Unit, has appeared as
ensemble in residence at over two dozen of the finest universities and
conservatories, astonishingly commissioning and premiering over 200 works thus
far in its triumphant 6 years. The Unit
has traveled internationally on numerous occasions to many parts of Europe,
South America, and Canada. David leads
the ensemble in over fifty performances annually.
David graduated from the Masters program at Juilliard pursuing
studies in composition with Milton Babbitt and violin with Robert Mann, and is
currently completing his studies there as a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow. David was just appointed to serve on the faculty of
Columbia University where he teaches violin performance, chamber music, and
often lectures.
In addition to academic and performing engagements, he often
presents lectures on myriad musical topics around the globe, with recent
appearances at the Philadelphia Modern Languages Association Conference;
International Society of the Arts, Mathematics, and Architecture (Germany);
BRIDGES International Mathematics Conference (Maryland); Banff Centre;
Hildegard Von Bingen Society.
David performs on a variety
of fine instruments, including violins by Gaetano Gadda and Douglas Cox, a
viola by Gigli Romanus on loan to him from The Juilliard School, and bows by
Benoit Rolland and F.N. Voirin.
