About - Doc Wallace Music

David Wallace Grey Shirt Viola Head Shot Photo Credit: Christopher Davis — Dr. David Wallace: Musician, Composer, Teaching Artist
Photo Credit: Christopher Davis

Dr. David Wallace is a fiercely eclectic musician, award-winning composer, and master teaching artist who currently serves as Chair of the String Department of Berklee College of Music. David’s concert appearances include solo performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic, as well as international tours with the Teaching Artist Ensemble of the New York Philharmonic. David concertizes regularly with his flute-viola-harp trio Hat Trick and his Texas-style swing band The Doc Wallace Trio. David has been broadcast as a soloist and chamber musician on NPR, WQXR, KTV (Korea), CBS, ABC, PBS, Tokyo-MX, and NHK television. The New York Times compares his solo improvisations to “Jimmy Page fronting Led Zeppelin.”

Known for his mastery of eclectic styles ranging from all classical genres to fiddling, rock, and free jazz, David has also gained widespread acclaim for his ability to connect with audiences in diverse community settings, including schools, hospitals, psychiatric facilities, houses of worship, and prisons. Symphony magazine hails his book Reaching Out: A Musician’s Guide to Interactive Performance, as “an invaluable manual for all musicians, classical or otherwise.”

As a composer, David has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, the New York Philharmonic, the Juilliard School, and the Marian Anderson String Quartet. Through the New York Philharmonic’s radical Very Young Composers program, he has mentored over a hundred children whose original compositions were performed by members of the orchestra.

David received his D.M.A from the Juilliard School where he served as a Morse Teaching Artist Fellow and Teaching Assistant to legendary violist and pedagogue Karen Tuttle. In addition to his active studio at Berklee College of Music, David teaches at Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp and MyTalentForge.com. A short list of David’s clients and presenters includes Carnegie Hall, the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Chamber Society of Lincoln Center, UNESCO, and Young Audiences.