David Moss
David Moss is considered one of the most innovative singers and percussionists in contemporary music. He has performed his solo work all over the world. In 1991 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship; in 1992, a DAAD Fellowship in Berlin.
He has been part of Peter Machajdík's multimedia project Intimate Music since 1994. The project was premiered at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin during Inventionen Festival '94.
Moss is the co-founder (with Muziektheater Transparant) and artistic director of the Institute for Living Voice (ILV), a workshop center hosting Master Singers from around the world. The ILV presented its premiere session in Sept. 2001 in Gent, Belgium, and presented its 2004 sessions in June in Amsterdam (as part of the Holland Festival) and in October as part of the Melbourne Festival.
In 2004, Moss re-joined Hans Peter Kuhn and Stefan Kurt to create the theater piece Sunset Scientists" for Theater Neumarkt (Zürich). He performed as soloist in "Credo" by Andrea Molino in Karlsruhe and and in Rome for the Conference of Nobel Peace Price Winners; he toured with the Ensemble Modern in their "Frank Zappa Project", and appeared in Olga Neuwirth's opera "Lost Highway", with performances at the 2003 Steierischer Herbst Festival in Graz and at Theater Basel. He was soloist in the premiere of "Divina.Com" by Daniele Lombardi, singing in front of Michelangelo¹s "David" in Firenze; and was part of the Melbourne Festival.
In 2003, Moss performed as soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle; and with the Uri Caine Ensemble at Lincoln Center. He appeared as soloist in the premiere of Olga Neuwirth's opera, "Lost Highway" as part of Steierischer Herbst Festival. In early 2003, Moss composed the music for, and performed in, "For Life", a dance-theater production of the Darmstadt Theater.
Moss made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2003 with the American Composers Orchestra, under Steven Sloane.
Moss returned to the Salzburg Festival in summer 2001 as "Prince Orlovsky" in the new Hans Neuenfels production of "Die Fledermaus". In 1999, Moss was a featured soloist in Luciano Berios' "Cronaca del Luogo" at its premiere in Salzburg.
In 2002, his one-man theater piece "Einstein for Aliens" premiered in Antwerp, with Berlin, Bruges, Amsterdam, Gent, Frankfurt, NY to follow. Also "OWL", a new work Moss composed for the Asko Ensemble based on Allen Ginsberg's "Howl", was performed throughout Holland. He also composed "Chortet" for the Arditti String Quartet.
Moss has sung at the Edinburgh Festival, Spoleto Festival, USA, and the Meistersinger Festival in Nürnberg in Heiner Goebbels' orchestra work "Surrogate Cities" , and is a vocal soloist in Goebbels' "Prometheus". Since 1995 he has performed as guest with the Ensemble Modern, most recently in their "Frank Zappa Project" at the Paris Festival and Hamburg Music Fest in 2002.
Moss also presented the "Strange Stories Project" as part of the Bern Biennale; served on the jury for the Darmstadt "New Theater" prize; sings in Andrea Molino's "Death Penalty Project"; and appears as featured soloist in Uri Caine's "Goldberg Variations Project". He curated a vocal improvisation project for the Adelaide Festival 2000.
In 2005/6 he will be featured in two new projects: first, the premiere of Sam Auinger's multi-media opera, "The Man Made of Rain" at the Bruckner House, Linz; and second, the premiere of "Pierrot LunaiRE: REmix 05/06", a collaboration with the Alter Ego ensemble.
Born: 1949, New York City
Education: BA degree in Russian History (Trinity College, 1970)
Musical Training: 1963-68: studied percussion at Hartt College of Music and Hartford Symphony with Joe Porcaro, Al Lepak, Richard Lepore.
Moss has worked with Luciano Berio, Olga Neuwirth, Heiner Goebbels, Fred Frith, John Zorn, Malcolm Goldstein, Peter Machajdík, Nicolas Collins, Sam Auinger, Arto Lindsay, Fast Forward, Sir Simon Rattle, Sylvain Cambreling, Peter Eotvos, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Asko Ensemble, Arditti Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, Ensemble Music Fabrik NRW, Ensemble Intercontemporain. Paris, Carla Bley Ensemble, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and many others.
Current Position: Artistic Director, Institute for Living Voice, Antwerp; opera singer, improvising musician, performer, composer, percussionist, vocalist, project organizer.
