“This Fragmented Old Man fuses the energy of Elliott Carter, the rhythmic drive of Bela Bartok, and the harmonic fluidity of Igor Stravinsky to create an energetic, wild, slightly senile, and charming work based on the children’s counting song This Old Man” (ComposersToolbox.com)

Composer and clarinetist David T. Bridges’ music is often driven by motivic transformations and unifies extended techniques with classic and narrative structures to provoke a visceral response.

Bridges’ compositions have been performed by ensembles including Del Sol Quartet, Contemporaneous, ensemble mise-en, Mivos, and Cadillac Moon Ensemble.  He has been featured at the New Music on the Bayou Festival in Louisiana, Reciprocity Collaborative at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, Red Note Festival at Illinois State University, Hot Air Music Festival at San Francisco Conservatory, and Composers Now Festival in NYC.  His string quartet “This Fragmented Old Man” and “Three Caprices” for violin and cello are released on Navona Records.

He earned degrees in Music Theory and Composition from the City University of New York Graduate Center, Queens College, and Hofstra University.  He studied composition with Tania León, Bruce Saylor, Lee Chandler Carter, and Herbert Deutsch.

Bridges’ multifaceted career has included teaching music theory at Brooklyn College, designing and teaching a composition series at Buckley Country Day School, associate conductor of the CUNY Contemporary Music Ensemble, and performing new music on clarinet.  Currently, he is the Client Services Manager for Merkin Hall and on the Board of Directors for The Astoria Choir where he develops and manages collaborative programs fostering the interaction of regional composers with the ensemble and audiences.