Known as an insightful interpreter of the symphonic repertoire, David Bernard is acclaimed by New York Critics as a "sound conductor" who "adds depth" to important masterworks while "exuding elasticity and elegance" and delivering "magnificent performances".  Maestro Bernard has been making music for more than thirty years and has performed in more than twenty countries on four continents.  In addition to founding the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony in 1999, Mr. Bernard has been music director of the Lawyers’ Orchestra since 2001 and was assistant conductor of both the Stamford Symphony (CT) and the Jacksonville Symphony (FL).

Maestro Bernard’s extensive conducting experience includes the symphonic repertoire, opera and musical theater. Highlights of his recent conducting appearances include Beethoven Symphonies 2, 3, 5, 6 & 7, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, all four Brahms Symphonies,  Dvorak Symphonies 7, 8 & 9, Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis, Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3 "Scottish", Mozart Symphonies 1, 25, 28, 33, 40 & 41, Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition, Schubert Symphony No. 9, "Great", Schumann Symphonies 2 & 4, Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, Sibelius Symphony No. 2, Stravinsky Firebird Suite (1919), Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 4, as well as world premieres of works by Bruce Adolphe and John Mackey.  Maestro Bernard has collaborated with notable soloists, including Don Barnum, Sandra Wolf-Meei Cameron, Catherine Cho, Judith Ingolfsson, Christina Jennings, Soyeon Lee, Jon Manasse,  Todd Phillips and James Archie Worley.  He has also appeared in the dual role of conductor and keyboard soloist in two Bach concertos--the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 and the keyboard concerto in f minor, BWV 1056. 


Mr. Bernard has conducted performances at Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall and Symphony Space.  His performances have been broadcast on WQXR and WNYC, and he was featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Daily News and The New York Times.

Mr. Bernard has written his own completion of Mozart's Requiem, K.626, which was performed in an acclaimed performance at Avery Fisher Hall with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony and the New Amsterdam Singers.   He has also prepared a new edition of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 1 and has written a Music Theory textbook, "The Structural Principals of Music". 

Mr. Bernard has studied at The Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, the Tanglewood Music Center and Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Mr. Bernard led several acclaimed performances with the Stony Brook Symphony, including Schumann 1st Symphony, Shostakovich 6th Symphony, and a rare performance of Ives' 4th Symphony where he led the orchestra in partnership with Arthur Weisberg, the noted conductor of 20th century music.

Mr. Bernard is an elected member of the Alumni Council of The Curtis Institute of Music and is a Trustee of the InterSchool Orchestras of New York.

1984: David Bernard, while a student at The Curtis Institute of Music, in a conducting lesson with Sergiu Celibidache.	1989: David Bernard, while assistant conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony