DAVID BARNHART - Cello

David has been teaching cello in the Hudson Valley since 1993. He received his Bachelor’s in Music (Performance) in 1986 from Franklin Pierce University and his Master’s of Music (Performance) from Kent State University in 1993. During his High School years, David attended the Mannes College of Music’s Preparatory Division where he met and studied with his most influential teacher, cellist William Harry. Harry taught him with a caring and steady hand the ways of learning the cello with a system that was to the point and economical. That “quality over quantity” is the one essential tool for learning the instrument successfully which David still practices with his students to this day. Subsequently, David went on to study with Franklin Pierce University adjunct faculty cellist Carol Gebhardt from 1982-1986. During his college years, David was involved in a rigorous program of performance where he participated in Franklin Pierce’s annual Christmas programs of Handel’s “Messiah” and got his orchestra pit experience playing in Franklin Pierce’s musical productions of “Pippin” and “Fiddler On The Roof” among others. He gained further orchestral playing experience in the Monadnock region with Monadnock Orchestra and Chorus and the neighboring college of Keene State where he was a member of the Keene State Orchestra.He also participated in their chamber music program as well run by the Apple Hill Chamber Music Player’s pianist Eric Stumacher (a very prestigious group that concertized the world over). David was also a participant in Apple Hill’s Summer Chamber Music Camp. Kent State University offered a further continuation of David’s college studies and participation in master classes offered by his teacher Moshe Amitay and two years of participation in the Kent State Sinfonia. After completion of his Masters 1993, David set up and gathered private students for his studio in the Hudson Valley. Concurrently, he was asked to join the faculty of Bramson’s Music/ Mount Kisco School of Music where from 1993 to 1996 and then after a short hiatus came back to work as a faculty member from 2003-2011. David diligently prepared all of his students for success in their local NYSSMA auditions and as a result they came away with exceptional marks. After Bramson’s closing in 2011, David worked at Putnam Music Center in Mahopac, New York from 2012-2024 where he continued to mold cello students there with the same caring and determined hand that his mentor instilled so many years ago. He is a welcome addition to the staff at CSPA.