David Bird

David bird in a grey shirt standing outside
Visiting Assistant Professor of Composition
Teaching at UChicago since 2022

David Bird is a composer, producer, and multimedia artist based in New York City. His work explores the dramatic potential of electroacoustic and multimedia environments, often highlighting the relationships between technology and the individual. Bird's compositions have been performed internationally, at festivals such as the MATA festival, TIME SPANS festival, Gaudeamus Festival, Wien Modern, SPOR festival, Musica Electronica Nova Festival, Giga-Hertz Festival, Festival Mixtur, and more. He has collaborated with groups such as JACK Quartet, Yarn/Wire, Talea Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble intercontemporain, Mantra Percussion, Vortex Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, Black Page Orchestra, AuditivVokal Dresden, loadbang, Bozzini Quartet, lovemusic, and andPlay. His work has been released on labels such as New Focus Recordings, Carrier Records, and TAK Editions, and has received praise from outlets such as The New York Times, The Wire, Textura, and "Best of Bandcamp."

Bird is a founding member of the New York-based chamber ensemble TAK, regarded as "one of the most prominent ensembles in the United States practicing truly experimental music" (I Care If You Listen). He is also a co-artistic director of Qubit New Music, a non-profit group that curates and produces experimental music events in New York City. He is the recipient of a 2021 Fromm Music Foundation Commission from Harvard University, the 2021 Cultural Foundation Schloss Wiepersdorf Fellowship, a 2018 Austrian FederalChancellery / KulturKontakt Austria Artist Residency, the 2018 Giga-Hertz Award (Honorable Mention), the 2016 BMI Student Composer Award, and a 2016 Gaudeamus Award (Nominee).