Early life and education
Felder was born in Cleveland,Ohio on November 27,1953,and joined the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus as a late teenager,where he sang as a tenor . [2] He received a Bachelor of Music in 1975 and a Master of Music in 1977,both from Miami University. During his time there he trained as a composer and theorist,and as a choral conductor,while also teaching electronic music. Felder spent the next two years in Cleveland teaching electronic music and recording at the Cleveland Institute of Music and studying composition privately with Donald Erb,while participating in contemporary music concerts in Cleveland as sound technician for the group "Reconnaisance". Felder earned a PhD in music composition at the University of California,San Diego, [3] where he studied with Roger Reynolds,Bernard Rands,Robert Erickson,and Joji Yuasa. He taught as a part-time faculty member in electronic music,and conducted the UCSD Concert Choir. In 1982 he begin teaching full time at California State University where he taught all levels of theory and composition,co-produced the New Music Concert Series,inaugurated and funded the InterArts Festival,as well as the Long Beach Summer Composers' Institute. In 1985 he accepted a position at University at Buffalo,where he taught from 1985 through 2023,and initiated a large number of professional projects in the production of events and festivals.
Career
Felder was the Composer-in-Residence of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra from 1993 to 1997 and has received numerous grants and commissions throughout his career as a composer,including many awards from the National Endowment for the Arts,two New York State Council commissions,a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship,a Guggenheim Fellowship,two Koussevitzky commissions,two Fromm Foundation Fellowships,two awards from the Rockefeller Foundation,two commissions from the Mary Flagler Cary Trust,and many more. [4] In 2010,the American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded Felder the Music Award in recognition of his career accomplishments. [5]
Felder taught music composition at the University at Buffalo from 1985 to 2023 entirely for Ph.D. Composition students,received the SUNY Distinguished Professor title in 2008, [6] and served as Master Artist in Residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in 2010. His,Les Quatres Temps Cardinaux (2013–14),for chamber orchestra,soprano,bass voice,and electronics,has been recorded by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and also by Ensemble Signal with the Slee Sinfonietta,Brad Lubman conductor on Coviello. More recently,his violin concerto,Jeu de Tarot project(2017-22),with violin soloist Irvine Arditti,and Ensemble Signal,conducted by Brad Lubman,has been recorded and released on Coviello Contemporary records. [7] and Jeu de Tarot 2 recorded and released on Coviello in January 2025. His latest work for orchestra,Die Dämmerungen,was given its complete world premiere by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on October 5,2019,at Kleinhans Music Hall. Jeu de Tarot 2 (2020) has been recently recorded by the Slee Sinfonietta,with violin soloist Irvine Arditti,conducted by Christian Baldini,and has been released.
June in Buffalo Festival
The June in Buffalo Festival was founded at the University at Buffalo in 1975 by composer and UB Professor Morton Feldman,with sponsorship by the Rockefeller Foundation,New York State Council for the Arts,and the university at Buffalo. The festival was originally modeled upon the Darmstadt Festival with younger composers present for seminars and concerts of music by distinguished established composers. The festival ran until 1979 and was defunct - until 1985 when David Felder revived the festival when he joined the faculty at the university. [8]
From 1985 to 2022,Felder was the director of June in Buffalo,and significantly expanded the program to feature world-class performances of work by emerging composers,side-by-side with distinguished established world-class composers.</ref>June in Buffalo has run every June since 1985,and offers a week-long intensive schedule of seminars,lectures,workshops,professional presentations,participant forums and open rehearsals as well as afternoon and evening concerts open to the general public and critics. Each of the invited composers has one of their pieces performed during the festival. Evening performances feature faculty composers,resident ensembles and soloists renowned internationally as interpreters of contemporary music. [9]
Slee Sinfonietta The Slee Sinfonietta,professional chamber orchestra-in-residence at the Center for 21st Century Music which Felder founded in 1996,10 years earlier than the inception of the Center,as the centerpiece resident group. The first conductor was Magnus Martensson. [10] The Slee Sinfonietta is the professional chamber orchestra in residence at the university at Buffalo and presents a series of concerts each year that feature performances of challenging new works by contemporary composers and lesser-known works from the chamber orchestra repertoire. The Slee Sinfonietta consists of a core group including UB faculty performance artists,visiting artists,national and regional professionals and advanced performance students,and conducted by leading conductors and composers. [11]
Center for 21st Century Music
The June in Buffalo Festival enjoys sponsorship from the Robert and Carol Morris Center for 21st Century Music,which Felder founded in 2006,and acted as artistic director until his retirement in 2022. [12]
Creative Arts Initiative
In 2015 he was named co-director of the university at Buffalo's Creative Arts Initiative,a plan to bring major international creative artists to the region as guest artists. [13]
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