Born in Canada, trained in Europe, and tested in Hollywood, composer and conductor DAVID FEDERMAN brings an elegant musical voice steeped in international flair.

David holds a Master of Music degree in Scoring for Film, Television, and Video Games from Berklee College of Music, Valencia Campus, where he studied under Lucio Godoy and Alfons Conde. He was recognized for his achievements during the Master’s program with the prestigious Outstanding Scholar Award at graduation. David’s experience in Spain was followed by an internship in Los Angeles, working in the studio of composer Bear McCreary.

David recently scored the heartfelt drama The Sweetest Goodbye (dir. Emily Schooley), the psychological thriller Double Edged (dir. Cliona Concetta), the romantic comedy The Tape (dir. Kayla Craig), and the romantic drama Sand Land (dir. Iven Tu). Listen for his work in the upcoming dramatic feature No More Stolen Afternoons (dir. Barry Germansky). His music can also be heard in Season 5 of CBC’s Someone Knows Something podcast.

David’s music has been recorded by ensembles around the world, notably in London, Budapest, New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto. His Flight: A Tribute to Hayao Miyazaki, recorded by a 54-piece orchestra under his baton at AIR Studios, was featured as part of a special presentation at the Hemisfèric in Valencia, Spain, from January to June of 2015.

As a conductor, David has worked with premier musicians in London, Valencia, New York, and Toronto, both in the studio and on the concert stage. As an arranger and orchestrator, his contributions have been heard recently in concert at Gaming Sounds in Kiel, Germany, and Composers Summit Prague. David is also the arranger, orchestrator, and music director of Back and Forth: The Musical (book, music, and lyrics by Dayjan Lesmond), which premiered at the 2022 Toronto Fringe Festival. An abridged demo version was made available in a preview format as part of the Toronto Fringe Collective in 2020.

When not composing, conducting, producing, arranging, or orchestrating, David can be found performing Renaissance and Baroque music, often on one of many sizes of viola da gamba or recorder. In 2019, he was appointed the Music Director of the Rosewood Consort, fuelled by his love of early music and historically-informed performance.

David is also active in educating filmmakers about the art and practice of film scoring and the process of collaborating with a composer. He has presented his seminar, The Care and Feeding of Your Composer, through ACTRA Toronto, Raindance Toronto, and Sheridan College, as well as online. If you are interested in arranging a Care and Feeding presentation for filmmakers in your area, please contact David for further information.

You may listen to additional samples of his compositions on his SoundCloud.

You can read David’s article on the history and practice of video game music in Perspectives, the newsletter of the International Game Developers Association.