DAVID WENDELL NELSON
www.davidwendellnelson.com
David Nelson was granted a Ph.D. in music theory/composition in 1979 from the University of California at Santa Barbara. As a professor at Cerritos College in the Los Angeles area for over twenty-five years, he taught music theory, music history, composition, violin, piano, guitar, recording arts, and computer generated music. David has worked in a variety of institutions, ranging from the secondary level to college and university.
Professor Nelson’s musical training started at age 9 with the study of the violin. Over the last 45 years, Dr. Nelson has composed numerous works, including symphonies, tone poems, choral pieces, chamber music, music for film, popular music, incidental music for plays, eBooks, and computer generated music. Recently he completed a two-hour Requiem for full orchestra and chorus, as well as three musicals, Haight, L.A. Vida, and The Fitzsimmons Diary. In the spring of 2018 the Truckee Tahoe Community Chorus premiered Dr. Nelson’s Truckee Historical Revue chronicling the fascinating history of this unique mountain village. Over the years David has received commissions from University of California at Riverside, Truckee Tahoe Community Chorus, University of Alaska at Juneau, Cerritos College, Truckee Tahoe Community Chorus, and the Sonoma Valley Chorale.
As an avid outdoorsman, Dr. Nelson incorporates environmental elements into his music. For example, his July 19th 1869 tone poem for full orchestra is a musical setting of the prose found in John Muir’s diary on the day he walked into Yosemite Valley for the first time. The fall of 2018 saw the premiere of Little Bighorn, a program symphony/video depicting the epic battle of the Little Bighorn between the confederated Lakota tribes and Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer.
Dr. Nelson is also a software developer and markets a number of products for aural skills practice and music fundamentals training. Many of his works include electronic media. Besides being a violinist, he is also a proficient guitarist, pianist, and pedal steel guitarist. In high school he performed with Stevie Nicks in the band “Changing Times.”
Two of his musicals, Haight and L.A. Vida, have been fashioned into the eBook format and are available at the iTunes store for free download. These eBooks contain hyperlinks to the songs on the musical websites. This new genre is indeed a book that sings to you. The eBook Solo on the JMT is also available through iTunes and chronicles Dr. Nelson’s 240 mile solo backpack on the famous John Muir Trail. For a number of years Dr. Nelson and his colleagues have provided music for the Sierra State Parks Foundation fund raising events at Vikingsholm on Lake Tahoe.
Dr. Nelson currently lives in Truckee where he pursues his musical as well as environmental interests.