Bio

"If the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony is not on your radar, they should be: they are a world-class orchestra." --Lucid Culture


Since its founding in 1999, the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony has built a loyal following, both in New York City and worldwide through its extensive catalog of recordings on iTunes, Naxos/ClassicsOnline, Amazon and Spotify.  


First Prize Winner of The American Prize Competition in Orchestral Performance, The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony's performances are acclaimed by New York Critics as “Triumphant...polished…exquisite…with a strong sense of style and commitment…with the depth and fervor of the old school European orchestras.” 


The ensemble regularly features important soloists including Carter Brey (principal cellist, New York Philharmonic), David Chan (concertmaster, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), Jon Manasse (clarinet soloist) and Whoopi Goldberg (Oscar Winning Actor and Entertainer), as well as emerging artists from Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music and Mannes. The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony performs at All Saints Church on the Upper East Side of NYC, with additional performances at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall.  


Through its fundraising efforts, the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony has helped establish a new Scholarship Fund for students at theJuilliard School’s Pre-College Division, as well as support  The Harmony Program—a New York City organization that provides music lessons to economically disadvantaged children and is modeled after Venezuela's world-famous model of music education, "El Sistema". 


In December 2011, the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony will tour China at the invitation of the Beijing Concert Hall Corporation.

David Bernard
Founding Music Director of New York City’s famed Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, DAVID BERNARD has performed in more than 20 countries on four continents. His incisive performances have been heard in many of the city’s most prestigious venues, among them Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall and The Riverside Church, as well as on radio stations WNYC and WQXR and telecast on WCBS. He and his work have been profiled in Symphony Magazine, PlaybillArts.com, The Juilliard Journal, New York’s Daily News, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Bernard and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony are the First Prize Winner of The American Prize in Orchestra Performance, 2011.

David Bernard’s current season is highlighted by a ten-concert tour of The People’s Republic of China with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony.

David Bernard is a pianist and harpsichord/continuo player, and often leads Baroque works from the keyboard and performs in the dual role of soloist and conductor. He has also prepared a new edition of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 1 and written a textbook of music theory, The Structural Principles of Music. Mr. Bernard lectures on musicology, music history and musicianship, most recently “Musicianship in Performance,” an exploration of the decisions made when creating performances.

Devoted to the music of our own time, David Bernard has presented world premières of scores by Bruce Adolphe, Chris Caswell, John Mackey and Ted Rosenthal, while distinguished concert collaborators include Carter Brey, David Chan, Catherine Cho, Pedro Días, Bart feller, Whoopi Goldberg, Judith Ingolfsson, Christina Jennings, Jessica Lee, Jon Manasse, Todd Phillips and James Archie Worley.

David Bernard is passionately committed to elementary and secondary school music education, continuously developing new talent and providing solo performance experience to exciting young artists. His leadership in fundraising for music education programs has bolstered outreach, community music schools and conservatory preparatory programs - most notably the Harmony Program (a New York City initiative modeled after Venezuela’s “El Sistema”) and the Lucy Moses School. Mr. Bernard has also established the Parent’s Association Endowed Scholarship Fund at The Juilliard School Pre-College Division.

Prior to the 1999 founding of the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, David Bernard served as Music Director of the Stony Brook University Orchestra, the Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island and Theater Three. He also held the post of Assistant Conductor of both the Jacksonville and Stamford symphony orchestras.

David Bernard is an alumnus of The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Stony Brook University, The Tanglewood Music Center and Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and studied with Sergiu Celibdache, David Lawton, Roger Nierenberg and Arthur Weisberg.

David Bernard’s discography includes 17 albums spanning music from Vivaldi to Copland, and released on Amazon.com, iTunes, Napster and Rhapsody.


Maestro Bernard's recent performances with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony have inspired significant critical acclaim:

Strauss Death and Transfiguration
"David Bernard’s performance of Strauss Death and Transfiguration was a real triumph. Bernard, who conducted from memory, brought raw, dramatic intensity to the urgent sections, while conducting the noble transfiguration theme with utmost tenderness and lovely, sustained pacing. Balances were unusually clear, considering the church’s resonant acoustics; Bernard found ways to bring out woodwind details, and the brass shined with solid, blended playing."
-Anthony Aibel, New York Concert Review

Strauss Death and Transfiguration
"Conductor David Bernard offered a fresh and inspired take of Strauss Death and Transfiguration that worked magically."
-LucidCulture.com

Beethoven Symphony No. 8
"The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony’s performance of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony was captivating throughout; the clarity of rhythm and the musical conviction of the players were superb in what was a sparkling account. Music Director and Conductor David Bernard made the most of Beethoven’s melodic material by emphasizing the shape of the musical line. All dynamics were presented with great contrast, but Bernard also brought out the nuanced, Haydnesque elements in the music: the humor, the grace, the lightness of touch in the orchestration, and he emphasized the Viennese dance music that permeates the score."
-Holly Nelson, New York Concert Review

Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2
“The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony scored a triumph…David Bernard, the Chamber Symphony’s Music Director, led both pieces from memory, with clarity and a sense of spontaneity…the orchestra played with a strong sense of style and commitment…under the guidance of Mr. Bernard [the orchestra played] with the depth and fervor of the old school European orchestras."
-David LaMarche, New York Concert Review

Vivaldi "The Four Seasons"
Vivaldi Gloria
"..A riveting and stellar performance on all fronts. Music Director David Bernard, who led the performance while playing the harpsichord, did an excellent job of maintaining solid ensemble-playing and consistently driven tempos in what was a crisply articulate, high-energy account…a memorable performance…Bernard conducted the Gloria from memory and with an astute ear for phrasing and color."
-Anthony Aibel, New York Concert Review

Beethoven Symphony No. 6
Copland Appalachian Spring Suite
"David Bernard conducted the entire program—including the concerto and a difficult Copland work—without a score. Beethoven’s sixth symphony sounded terrific and was polished to excellence. Copland’s notoriously difficult “Appalachian Spring” Suite was played very well. The opening A’s were unusually and nicely poised, the closing chorale section was phrased beautifully, and the last three glockenspiel and harp notes were perfect."
-Anthony Aibel, New York Concert Review

Bizet Symphony in C
Debussy Nocturnes
Gershwin "An American in Paris"
"The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony played [Bizet’s Symphony in C] marvelously well; David Bernard’s tempo choices were fittingly musical—the last movement Allegro vivace, for example, wasn’t hurried or flashed for effect, but played so details could be heard. This was indeed a polished performance. In Debussy’s Nocturnes the dreamy mood in Nuages (clouds) was captured exquisitely.  Gershwin’s An American in Paris was very solid and evocative. Bernard added some nice touches, like a longer-than-usual bassoon grace note at the beginning of one of the slower parts. Bernard conducted the entire program from memory, the orchestra was confident and musical, technically impressive and extremely well-prepared."
-Anthony Aibel, New York Concert Review

Beethoven Symphony No. 5
"The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony’s talented Music Director, David Bernard, led a performance of Beethoven’s 5 with excellent precision of ensemble. I really liked Bernard’s emphasis of the first movement’s famous four-note motive when it appears in the horns. The last movement Allegro was faster than usual—it was refreshing to hear.
-Anthony Aibel, New York Concert Review

Strauss "On the Beautiful Blue Danube"
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20
Shostakovich Symphony No. 5
"A charming, well-prepared performance….Bernard chose a stylistically well- balanced program, one that presented music from three different centuries. The performance of Shostakovich’s challenging Fifth Symphony was very impressive."
-Anthony Aibel, New York Concert Review


David Edelson

David Edelson has served as Concertmaster of the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony since his appointment in 2005. Edelson’s skills and experience as a musician and leader contribute to the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony's high level of artistic excellence.


Edelson’s career as a professional violinist spans over 30 years. He has performed with the Symphony of Long Island, the Hadassah University Symphony and the Great Neck Symphony, where he served as principal second violin and was the winner of the Minnie Rose Award. More recently, Edelson has performed with The New Amsterdam Symphony, the Doctor’s Orchestra of NY, and has appeared as concertmaster of the Broadway Bach Orchestra and the Mimosa Chamber Ensemble.


Edelson began his violin studies in Massapequa, NY at age 9 with Lilo Glick. As a student, he appeared with the Long Island All-County Orchestra, New York All-State Orchestra, and the LI String Festival where as a 16 year-old he was the youngest violinist ever selected concertmaster. As concertmaster of the Long Island Youth Orchestra for four seasons, he performed in 30 countries on five continents.


As the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony's Concertmaster, Edelson's artistry has been showcased in performances of Rimsky Korsakov Scheherazade, Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Vivaldi "The Four Seasons".  His performances with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony have been recorded and released on iTunes, Amazon.com and Napster.   

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PACS wins The American Prize


Maestro David Bernard and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony were awarded First Prize in The American Prize Competition in Orchestral Performance, 2011. The American Prize is a series non-profit national competitions providing cash awards, professional adjudication and regional, national and international recognition for the best recorded performances of music by ensembles and individuals each year in the United States. The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony’s award winning live recording of Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 is one of 17 albums available for download on iTunes, Amazon.com and Naxos/ClassicsOnline containing performances by the orchestra led by its music director David Bernard.

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Radio

Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
Dvorak: Symphony no 7 in D minor, Op. 70/B 141
Dvorak: Concerto for Cello in B minor, Op. 104/B 191
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35
Brahms: Symphony no 1 in C minor, Op. 68
Strauss: An der schönen, blauen Donau, Op. 314 (Blue Danube Waltz)
Smetana: Bartered Bride, B 143/T 93
Wieniawski: Concerto for Violin no 2 in D minor, Op. 22
Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4 in F minor, Op. 36
Bizet: Symphony in C major
Debussy: Nocturnes (3) for Orchestra
Mendelssohn: Symphony no 4 in A major, Op. 90 "Italian"
Beethoven: Symphony no 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral"
Brahms: Symphony no 3 in F major, Op. 90
Beethoven: Symphony no 6 in F major, Op. 68 "Pastoral"
Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (1919)
Rachmaninov: Symphony no 2 in E minor, Op. 27
Barber: Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
Copland: Appalachian Spring
Vivaldi: Concertos (4) for Violin, Op. 8 no 1-4 "Le quattro stagioni" (The Four Seasons)
Cimarosa: Concerto for Oboe in C major
Beethoven: Symphony no 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 "Eroica"
Beethoven: Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op. 67
Beethoven: Symphony no 8 in F major, Op. 93
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Rosenthal: Jazz Fantasy
Strauss: Tod und Verklärung, Op. 24 "Death and Transfiguration"
Beethoven: Concerto for Violin in D major, Op. 61