about
David Su is a drummer and composer currently based in New York City, where he plays for the band Dances as well as doing session drum work and freelance composition. He has recorded and performed with a variety of musical groups in settings that range from dream-pop to gutter-rock to funk-fueled free jazz to the noisiest nuggets of new music.
Raised in the suburbs of Beijing, David began playing drums at age twelve, and shortly thereafter made his compositional debut as part of Apple's GarageBand launch campaign in China. He has participated in music festivals in Rome, Luxembourg, Manila, Kobe, and Ankara; in 2013 David also attended the Banff International Jazz Workshop, where he was coached by Vijay Iyer, Ambrose Akinmusire, Miles Okazaki, and E.J. Strickland. Since moving to New York, David has shared the stage with such luminaries as Karl Berger, Walter Thompson, and Houston Person, and his performances have taken him from radio station basements to rooftops in Harlem to venues such as Webster Hall and WNYC's Greene Space. Most recently he toured the United States and played SXSW with Dances.
Also an avid computer musician, David has won numerous tech event awards for his output, including 1st Prize at Columbia University's DevFest Hackathon (for MIDaS), Honorable Mention at Facebook's Summer of Hack (for Different Ages), and best use of the Peachnote API at Spotify's Music Education Hackathon (for Parrot Lunaire).
David is a recent graduate of Columbia University, where he majored in music and computer science as well as studying with Brad Garton at the Computer Music Center and drummer Tony Moreno as part of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program. He has also had the opportunity to study with such musicians as Fred Lerdahl, Matt Johnson, Tyshawn Sorey, Ben Waltzer, Don Sickler, Dan Weiss, Ramin Amir Arjomand, Ole Mathisen, Rich Thompson, and Dafnis Prieto.
Raised in the suburbs of Beijing, David began playing drums at age twelve, and shortly thereafter made his compositional debut as part of Apple's GarageBand launch campaign in China. He has participated in music festivals in Rome, Luxembourg, Manila, Kobe, and Ankara; in 2013 David also attended the Banff International Jazz Workshop, where he was coached by Vijay Iyer, Ambrose Akinmusire, Miles Okazaki, and E.J. Strickland. Since moving to New York, David has shared the stage with such luminaries as Karl Berger, Walter Thompson, and Houston Person, and his performances have taken him from radio station basements to rooftops in Harlem to venues such as Webster Hall and WNYC's Greene Space. Most recently he toured the United States and played SXSW with Dances.
Also an avid computer musician, David has won numerous tech event awards for his output, including 1st Prize at Columbia University's DevFest Hackathon (for MIDaS), Honorable Mention at Facebook's Summer of Hack (for Different Ages), and best use of the Peachnote API at Spotify's Music Education Hackathon (for Parrot Lunaire).
David is a recent graduate of Columbia University, where he majored in music and computer science as well as studying with Brad Garton at the Computer Music Center and drummer Tony Moreno as part of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program. He has also had the opportunity to study with such musicians as Fred Lerdahl, Matt Johnson, Tyshawn Sorey, Ben Waltzer, Don Sickler, Dan Weiss, Ramin Amir Arjomand, Ole Mathisen, Rich Thompson, and Dafnis Prieto.