Dr. David Rudge is a multi-genre artist—conductor, electric violinist, ceramicist, improviser, and photographer—who has led symphony orchestras and operas on five continents to critical acclaim. For 25 years he served as director of orchestras and opera at the State University of New York, where he also taught free improvisation and founded The Improv Collective, an ensemble dedicated to spontaneous music-making for self-expression.
Based in Philadelphia, he leads workshops for conductors and improvisation playshops for all ages and experience levels. He is music director of the Erehwon Ensemble, a professional chamber orchestra, and continues to guest conduct and perform as a violinist and improviser.
David has been part of Music for People—founded by Grammy-winning cellist David Darling—since its inception in the 1980s. He serves on its teaching staff and as director of the musicianship program and The Improv Collective.
For more than three decades, he has taught free improvisation in the U.S. and internationally in settings including conservatories, universities, and schools, as well as Omega Institute, the Kiental Center in Switzerland, the Tenri Cultural Center in New York City, Strings Without Boundaries, the American Fiddle Camp, the Chautauqua Institute, Charles Castleman’s Quartet Program, and the North Carolina School of the Arts.
He has conducted orchestras for David Darling and Jean-Luc Ponty and performed with Paul Winter, Paul Horn, Arthur Hull, and Don Campbell. He also collaborates with dancer-choreographer Terry Beck as composer/performer, and with Mary Knysh as a cofacilitator.