Few musicians have achieved the broad-based success that David Rosenthal has earned as a musical director, keyboardist, synthesizer programmer, producer, orchestrator and touring professional. Since graduating from Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, David’s talents have been continually in demand for his skilled musical precision, technical expertise, applied creativity and well-utilized gift of perfect pitch.
David’s multi-faceted career has taken him to studios and stages across the globe with many of the most prominent artists in the world. Besides his long tenure as keyboardist and musical director for Billy Joel, he has also worked with Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Enrique Iglesias, Robert Palmer, Whitesnake, Steve Vai, Ritchie Blackmore and Rainbow, Cyndi Lauper, Yngwie Malmsteen, Little Steven and Ethan Bortnick. His critically acclaimed work with Red Dawn and legendary progressive band Happy the Man also illustrate his talent for composing and producing original music.
Besides recording and touring, David has also worked on Broadway. Of note is his involvement with the Billy Joel/Twyla Tharp Tony Award-winning show “Movin’ Out”, where he scored and arranged keyboard parts, programmed the synthesizers and produced the classical playback tracks. He was also the assistant musical supervisor for all productions of the show. David continued his Broadway involvement with “A Tale of Two Cities” as synthesizer programmer.
David’s discography encompasses a broad range of musical accomplishments yielding top-ten singles, millions of record sales and Grammy® nominations. He’s also engaged his ‘classical side’ with the Czech Philharmonic and New Japan Philharmonic which both recorded his orchestration of Yngwie Malmsteen’s “Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra.”
He has performed in numerous concert videos, documentaries, video clips, appeared on numerous national television broadcasts including: David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, Johnny Carson, SNL, “VH1 Storytellers”, Showtime and HBO. Of recent note is David’s involvement as musical director for Ethan Bortnick’s PBS concert special, “The Power of Music,” where he assembled and led a 46 piece orchestra, 4 piece band, 120 member childrens choir and 3 background vocalists.
David has shown a strong commitment to educating young musicians by giving lectures at Berklee College of Music, Musician’s Institute, Full Sail University, and a number of music industry seminars. His DVD, “Building your Music Career” (Berklee Press) furthers his dedication to the next generation of musicians. Accordingly, Berklee has honored David with its Distinguished Alumni Award for “Outstanding Achievements in Contemporary Music.” He also earned high honors from Keyboard Magazine, where he was voted “Best Hired Gun” in their reader’s poll.
A prolific professional author, he has written for numerous magazines including Keyboard and Electronic Musician, designed recording studios, worked as a software consultant, and still finds time to endorse many product lines including: Hammond, Yamaha, Kurzweil, Muse Research (Receptor), Arturia, EastWest, Synthogy (Ivory II), Lexicon, Audio Technica, and Samsung 850 Pro SSD’s.
His fellow musicians and fans will readily attest: David’s professionalism, creativity and productive collaborations have earned him a notable place in the chronicles of contemporary and modern music.
Visit David Rosenthal online