David Balandrin has established himself as a talented performer and instructor in the Greater Boston area. In 2010, David was selected as the Brass Semi-Finalist in the Boston University Concerto Competition. In May, he graduated cum laude with a Masters degree in French Horn Performance from Boston University, where he studied with internationally acclaimed soloist Eric Ruske. Over the summer, David performed with the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific in Powell River, British Columbia, and studied with Oto Carillo of the Chicago Symphony. David is currently studying with Kevin Owen at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, working towards a Graduate Performance Diploma.
David's love of music showed at an early age when he began sounding out TV themes on the family piano. At age five he began taking piano lessons and, since then, he has studied the trumpet, baritone horn, guitar, voice, electric bass, orchestral conducting, and of course the French horn. David has also worked as a recording engineer and has produced several independent albums in and around his home town of Salt Lake City, Utah. David has performed with many groups including the Boston Civic Symphony, the Mercury Orchestra, Lowell House Opera, the Boston University Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, the 2002 Winter Olympic Spirit Marching Band, and the Utah Youth Symphony.
In 2007, David graduated cum laude from the University of Utah with an Honors Bachelor of Music degree. In addition to his senior recital, David also published a fifty page thesis entitled The Horn's Call, which provides a comprehensive history of the horn and an explanation of the physics and mechanics of the instrument. This thesis was prepared in accordance with the requirements of the University's Honors Program.
David hopes to play professionally in an orchestra and teach at a university. He currently lives in East Cambridge, MA with Shannon, his lovely and supportive wife, and their two cats, Maggie and Sybella.