About

About

David Spelman's career as an artistic director, curator, and music advisor for international festivals and performing arts centers, and as a producer of film soundtracks, has embraced classical, jazz, rock, avant garde, and world music, as well as spoken-word poetry and the visual arts.

Educated at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University and the New England Conservatory (which named him one of their One-Hundred Most Distinguished Alumni), he worked in the early '90s for Jay K. Hoffman & Associates, a boutique classical music publicity firm, before founding his own New York-based public relations and event production company representing some of the most distinguished artists and institutions in classical music. In 1999 he launched the first New York Guitar Festival, now a biennial event that presents the world’s finest guitarists in innovative, cross-genre, multi-media presentations.

Following on the success of the New York Guitar Festival, he's been appointed artistic director and guest curator for major festivals at the University of Illinois' Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Australia’s Adelaide Festival Centre, Toronto’s Luminato Festival, as well as The World Financial Center, Carnegie Hall, and other venues in Manhattan.

His projects have attracted worldwide press coverage, and have been broadcast on public radio across the United States. He has enjoyed the support of funders as diverse as Apple Computer, the Government of South Australia, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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I would describe my work as trying to give audiences what they are looking for, but always with something more; at times challenging or complex… sometimes warm, familiar and delicate. I’m looking for a way to touch people. To make them listen. To pay attention.

Questions I like to ask myself...

How many ways can art touch a community?

How can I activate a space—be it a concert hall, a theater, a church or a park?

If we only focus on what audiences think they want, why should they want to leave the comforts of their home?