People | Performance Staff

David Cubek
Director, University Chamber Orchestra

Email: davidcubek@gmail.com
Phone: (773)702-8484, Main Department Office

Born in Venezuela, David Cubek began piano and composition lessons at the age of 7. He later studied piano performance at the Simon Bolivar Conservatory and at the University Institute of Musical Studies in Caracas. In 1999, Mr. Cubek continued his piano studies in Montreal with Gabriela Montero and obtained a B.Mus. from McGill University in 2003. While in Montreal, Mr. Cubek began conducting lessons with Iwan Edwards (former conductor of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Chorus), who named him assistant conductor of I Medici de McGill Symphony Orchestra in 2002. In 2003, Mr. Cubek began graduate studies in orchestral conducting at the Conservatory of Montreal under the guidance of Raffi Armenian. Upon graduation from this institution, Mr. Cubek was awarded the First Prize with Great Distinction (before him, only two conducting students had received such recognition in the history of the Conservatory). David Cubek has participated in numerous advanced conducting workshops in Europe, the United States and Canada, receiving invaluable advice from Harold Farberman, Jorma Panula, Marin Alsop, and Raymond Harvey, to name only a few.

In 2007, Mr. Cubek was invited to conduct the Orchestra of the Sao Paolo State in Brazil as part of the Second International Conducting Competition of the OSESP. He was a lecturer (2003-07) and Ph.D. student (2006-07) at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. Last fall, Mr. Cubek conducted Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice in Montreal as part of an original project whose mandate is to perform opera in an innovative fashion at alternative venues in order to attract a younger audience.

Mr. Cubek currently pursues doctoral studies in orchestral conducting at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University under the guidance of Victor Yampolsky and with support from the Venezuelan Institute of Performing Arts and Music. In this capacity, he has worked as assistant conductor of the Northwestern Chamber and Symphony Orchestras and as a music theory instructor. Future engagements include performances with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra in Venezuela and with various ensembles at Northwestern University.