David Bahanovich
Dean of Music
Music
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
Faculty of Music
King Charles Court
Old Royal Naval College
Greenwich
London
SE10 9JF
Email: d.bahanovich@trinitylaban.ac.uk
Biography
David’s accomplishments as a cellist, music director and academic are diverse and encompass film, dance and opera. For two decades he has served as historical music director for Merchant Ivory Productions on such films as The White Countess (Ralph Fiennes), Le Divorce (Kate Hudson), Jefferson in Paris (Gwyneth Paltrow) and the forthcoming Richard II. He was the subject of a BBC documentary for his work on Jefferson in Paris and the Washington Post described the soundtrack as “One of the most gorgeous I have ever heard” along with the New York Times which praised the meticulous attention to detail and musical craftsmanship. David has been a member of BAFTA since 2009.
He made his European conducting debut in Florence at the Maggio Musicale in an opera-ballet production with film director James Ivory and avant-garde choreographer Karole Armitage. David was also musical director to Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Broadway performance of the ballet Last Lap with sets by the artist David Salle. David continues to work with Karole Armitage.
For more than 15 years David was based in New York, active with many leading period and modern orchestras and ensembles, collaborating with artists including Jaap Schroder, William Christie, Robert White, Sophie Daneman, Emmanuelle Haim, Sandrine Piau, Jean Paul Fouchecourt, Robert Mealy and Pierre Hantai. Outside of classical music, he has performed with such legendary Indian musicians as tabula virtuoso Zakir Hussian and sarangi player Sultan Khan and has also appeared with jazz composer and trumpeter Terrance Blanchard on Columbia records. He has recorded and produced for EMI (Abbey Road Studios), Columbia, Sony, Grandstand, Helicon, and Milan Records.
David performs on the Beatrice Harrison “Nightingale” violoncello which was used during the legendary live BBC broadcasts of the 1920’s.
Qualifications and Background
David is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University and has studied with Stephen Kates, Leon Fleisher, Mstislav Rostropovich, Anner Bylsma, Lawrence Lesser, Carter Brey, Nathaniel Rosen, Frederick Prausnitz, Valentine Berlinsky and the Borodin and Julliard String Quartets. He also holds an MBA.
David is deeply committed to higher education. He is a former Reader (Associate Professor) in Music at the University of Hertfordshire where he served as head and principal architect of the UK’s leading music industry management programme. David has previously taught at the Royal College of Music and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and founding member of the UK Music Skills Academy. His research in the area of music consumption behaviour in the digital economy has been widely cited and has informed government policy in both the UK and EU.