A recipient of both the American-Austrian foundation's 2003 Herbert von Karajan Fellowship for Young Conductors, and 2005 International Richard-Wagner-Verband Stipend, David Alexander Rahbee (USA) has enjoyed an increasingly busy schedule across Europe. He recently gave the Italian premiere of Helmut Lachenmann's Mouvement - vor der Erstarrung (Movement- before paralysis), leading three performances with the Divertimento Ensemble of Milan, in the presence of the composer. This past September he was chosen by Helmuth Rilling to conduct excerpts from Mozart's arrangement of Handel's Messiah with the Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, at part of that city's European Music Festival's 2006 Mozart celebration. He has also recently participated in assistant conductor auditions with The Cleveland Orchestra.
As part of his fellowship at the 2003 Salzburg Festival, Mr. Rahbee was assistant conductor of the International Attergau Institute Orchestra (under the patronage of the Vienna Philharmonic), where he assisted and worked with members of the Vienna Philharmonic and guest conductors including Bobby McFerrin. In 2004, 2005 and 2006 he was chosen to conduct on the closing concert of the International Bartok Festival in Hungary, conducting parts of major works by Bartok (including the Concerto for Orchestra) and Shadows by Peter Eötvös, in the presence of the composer. Over the past few years he appeared in concert with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (2001), Oradea (2002) and Brasov Philharmonic Orchestras (2003, 2004), the Dresden Hochschule orchestra (2003), International Goppisberger Musikwochen in Switzerland (2002-2003), the MATAV Hungarian Symphony Orchestra in Budapest (2003, 2004), Collegium Dorotheum Vienna (2004), "Cool Opera" of Norway (2004), Savaria Symphony Orchestra in Hungary (2004, 2005, 2006), Schönbrunner Schloss Orchester in Vienna (2005), Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg (2005), Divertimento Ensemble of Milan (2006), and the Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (2006). With these ensembles he has lead a wide variety of works from the baroque, classical, romantic, and modern eras. Between 2002 and 2005, he was was an assistant of Marcello Viotti.
Mr. Rahbee was invited to introduce several symphonic works of Carl Nielsen to the Brasov (Romania) Philharmonic in preparation for an international masterclass for conductors led by Jorma Panula in 2004, at which he also gave presentations concerning errata and performance practice issues in the works of Nielsen. ?Mr. Rahbee gave us a resounding performance...Rahbee?s conducting was exuberant and the players? response exhilarating?, wrote the Ellsworth American after a performance of Boris Blacher?s Paganini Variations.
From 1997-2001, David Rahbee was conductor of the Fidelio Chamber Orchestra in Cambridge, Massachusetts, selecting its talented young members from Harvard University, the New England Conservatory, and Boston University. With this orchestra, Mr. Rahbee gave the American premiere of Alexander Mnatsakanyan?s Second Symphony at Harvard University in 2000. In addition to his work in Boston with the FCO, David Rahbee has worked as guest rehearsal conductor at the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras (GBYSO), the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestras (RIPYO), and at the New England Conservatory, where he has prepared orchestras for distinguished guests such as Stanislaw Skrowaczewski. He has also led ensembles at Indiana University, The Cleveland Institute of Music, The Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School, the Manhattan School, Boston University, Harvard University, Yale University, the Longy School, and Domaine Forget (Quebec). From 1997 to 2000, he served as assistant conductor of the Hingham Symphony in Massachusetts.
Mr. Rahbee?s principal conducting teachers were Charles Bruck and Michael Jinbo at the Pierre Monteux School, where he spent several summers. He holds degrees from Indiana University (BM, violin and composition, 1996), and from the New England Conservatory (MM, orchestral conducting, 2000). He has also participated in post-graduate conducting classes at the Universität fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Vienna. Mr. Rahbee has taken part in conducting masterclasses in the USA, Canada, and Europe given by Sir Colin Davis, Jorma Panula, Zdenek Macal, Helmut Rilling, Hugh Wolff, Otto-Werner Mueller, Zoltan Pesko, Sylvain Cambreling, Gerhard Markson, and Lawrence Leighton Smith. Displaying his versatility as a musician, David Rahbee?s arrangement of Rossini?s The Barber of Seville overture for trombone quartet has been recorded and released on CD by Summit Music, played by the quartet known as Four of a Kind, consisting of some of the world?s greatest trombonists. This arrangement, along with many others, is published by Warwick Music, England. He is regularly hired by the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and the Vienna State Opera to work with librarians and conductors with preparing and editing musical materials for performance, and an orchestration of his was recently played by the Vienna State Opera. As a composer, he has over 40 works to his credit, some of which have been performed at such venues as Detroit?s Orchestra Hall, and at the Cleveland Institute of Music. As a violinist, he has been a member of the Prometheus Chamber Orchestra of New York.