Biography

Trumpeter David Burkhart, who grew up in Chicago, is an honors graduate of Yale, where he received his B.A. and M.M degrees. His “generous, even rich, tone,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle, “excellently reflected his studies with the best (including Adolph Herseth). There was security in the line, in the genial bel canto acrobatics, firm articulation and nice style." A student of Adolph Herseth, Arnold Jacobs, Robert Nagel, William Vacchiano, and Charles Geyer, Burkhart has served as principal trumpet of the Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose, and Jerusalem Symphonies, as well as the Santa Fe Opera, and as acting principal of the San Francisco Opera and San Diego Symphony. Prior to joining the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory, he taught at Stanford, San Jose State, and the Rubin Academy, Jerusalem. A founding member of the Bay Brass and the Jerusalem Brass Quintet, and member of the San Francisco Brass Quintet, Burkhart performs with many Bay Area groups, including the San Francisco Opera, Ballet, and Symphony. He has recorded over a dozen CDs and the DVD “Keeping Score: Mahler” with the San Francisco Symphony, “Symphony at the Opera” with the San Francisco Opera, “The Star Wars Trilogy” with John Williams, Robert Erickson’s “Night Music” with the Arch Ensemble, and two CDs with the Grammy-nominated Bay Brass.