David P. Sartor
David Sartor (rhymes with "Carter") is an American composer and conductor of symphonic, chamber, and choral music. He is on the music faculties of Belmont University, Cumberland University and Trevecca Nazarene University, and is the founder and music director of the Parthenon Chamber Orchestra. Music. Sartor is the composer of "Synergistic Parable" for symphonic band, which won the American Bandmasters Association's Ostwald Award for Symphonic Band Music, and of "Polygon", for brass quintet, which received the National Fine Arts Award. Other notable works include "Metamorphic Fanfare", commissioned by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra; "Thy Light Is Come  for chorus, organ, brass and timpani, commissioned by Christ Episcopal Church in Nashville and showcased at the Washington National Cathedral by the Cathedral Choral Society; Black Ball Counts Double" for string orchestra, which received a commendation in England's Oare International Composing Competition; "Reveries", for string orchestra, winner of the Burlington (Vermont) Chamber Orchestra's 2009 Composer Competition as well as a finalist in the Fauxharmonic Orchestra's Adagio Composition Contest; and "Concerto for Orchestra", a finalist in the Columbia Symphony Orchestra's American Composer Competition. A fourteen-time honoree in the American Prizes, national awards celebrating American excellence in  the arts, Sartor won Third Place nationally in their 2021 Competition for Orchestral Conducting - making him the only person to date to win American Prizes in three major categories: Conducting, Composition and Orchestral Performance. He has been designated as an "Honored Artist of the American Prize” in recognition of “sustained excellence” in the prestigious competitions. Sartor's compositions have been recognized with more than four dozen awards from ASCAP, Meet The Composer, Delta Omicron, and New Music for Young Ensembles, among others. His music has been featured at the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals, the International Double Bass Festival, the  Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the International Music Festival in San Jose Costa Rica, The World's Largest Organ Concert, the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and at Carnegie Hall, with broadcast performances on National Public Radio and local affiliates. Sartor's engagements as guest composer, conductor and lecturer include the Washington National Cathedral, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, the Nashville Concerto Orchestra, the Nexus Chamber Orchestra, the Vanderbilt University Orchestra, Illinois State University, Middle Tennessee State University, Trevecca Nazarene University, the Knoxville Brass Choir, the University of Tennessee Brass Choir, the Dogwood Arts Festival Chamber Orchestra, and  a conducting “mini-residency” at California State University sponsored by New York City’s Meet The Composer Foundation. He was a 2020 National Finalist for the American Prize in Orchestral Conducting, and has been inducted as a National Patron of Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity in recognition of his accomplishments as a conductor and composer, alongside notable individuals such as Samuel Barber, William Schuman and Robert Shaw. In addition to his concert music activities Sartor is an alumnus of the Steven Scott Smalley Film Scoring Workshop as well as a recent workshop with Richard Glasser & Aaron Zigman, and has scored  more than two dozen video documentaries and features. In June 2007, Sartor was awarded the Thor Johnson Memorial Commission by the Delta Omicron Foundation. The Johnson Commission, awarded every three years to a distinguished concert music composer, funds the creation of a new work to be featured at the organization’s Triennial Conference. Sartor's work for string quartet, "Passages", was premiered on July 17, 2009, at the 2009 Triennial Conference by the Atlantis String Quartet; the performance also coincided with and celebrated the 100th anniversary of Delta Omicron. Following the premiere, Sartor was inducted as a National Patron of  Delta Omicron in recognition of his accomplishments as a composer and conductor. Sartor's works are recorded on the Nexus label and are published by E.C. Schirmer, Shawnee Press, and Metamorphic Music. He currently resides in Tennessee with his wife, author Nancy Sartor. Early life and education. Sartor was born May 25, 1956, in Nashville. The son of high school principal Grayl Bruce Sartor and elementary school teacher Kathleen Lipscomb Sartor, he began piano studies at age 5 with his grandmother, Sallie Lipscomb, a local piano instructor. In elementary school Sartor continued piano lessons and also began trumpet lessons, performing  with his elementary school band. Sartor attended McGavock High School in Nashville, where he was a charter member of the school's award-winning Wind Ensemble and marching band under the direction of Kenton J. Hull Jr. Both Hull and Mrs. Bobby Jean Frost, the school's piano and music theory teacher, encouraged Sartor's development as a composer, performer and conductor. While a student at McGavock he was Principal Trumpet in the Nashville Youth Symphony, the Middle Tennessee Honor Band and the Tennessee All-State Orchestra, and frequently organized ensembles which he conducted in performances of his own compositions . Sartor studied at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the University of Tennessee (Bachelor of Music), studying composition with John Anthony Lennon and David Van Vactor and conducting with Donald Neuen, and at Middle Tennessee State University (Master of Music), studying composition with Paul Osterfield and conducting with Carol Nies. His conducting study includes private instruction with Karen Lynne Deal and workshops with Kenneth Schermerhorn, John Morris Russell, and Diane Wittry. Musical philosophy. "Composition is an act of faith. While most composers strive for artistic excellence in their work, music also serves to communicate. Without willing players  and attentive audiences, any composition is merely a complex set of instructions. Every piece of music, whether new or historical, is a testament to its composer's faith in the partnership among composer, performers, and audience." "(From Mr. Sartor's web site. Used by permission.)" Major compositions. UNACCOMPANIED SOLO "Sixes and Sevens", for solo cello "Medieval Manifesto", for solo contrabass "Variants", for solo trombone ORGAN Prelude on William Billings' "When Jesus Wept" "Simple Blessing" "Open Door" SOLO WITH KEYBOARD ACCOMPANIMENT "Sonata" for trumpet and piano "Celebration", for trumpet and organ "Remembrance", for flute and piano "Meditation", for cello and piano  TRIOS "Thrice-Told Tales of the Pomegranate Forest", for trumpet, violin, and bass clarinet "Scarab", for flute, bassoon, and harp "Prologue", fanfare for three trumpets QUARTETS "Black Ball Counts Double", for string quartet "Passages", for string quartet "Diplomatic Solution", for cello quartet "Diplomatic Summit", for contrabass quartet "Diplomatic Immunity", for two violas and two cellos "Fanfare a4", for two trumpets and two trombones QUINTETS "Aspirations", for woodwind quintet "Affectations", for brass quintet "Polygon", for brass quintet BRASS ENSEMBLE / BRASS WITH PERCUSSION "Cat's Eye", for brass ensemble "Ascension", for brass and timpani "Parabola", for brass and timpani "Dies Irae", for  brass and timpani "Crimson", for brass, timpani, percussion and optional organ "The Saints of Sewanee," for brass, timpani, percussion and optional organ PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE "Illusions" CHORAL "Thy Light Is Come", for mixed choir, SATB, and organ, with optional brass and timpani "We Will Be Glad", for mixed choir, SATB, organ, brass, and timpani "Psalm 67", for mixed choir, SATB, organ, and trumpet "Welcome, Christmas Day!" for mixed choir, SATB, and percussion (or piano) "Crown Him!" for mixed choir, SATB, and orchestra (with optional organ) "Search Your Heart for Christmas", for mixed choir, SATB, and cello "Amid the Cruel Winter's  Snow", for mixed choir, SATB, and harp BAND / WIND ENSEMBLE "Veni Emmanuel: Fantasy of Abstractions" "Synergistic Parable" "Governor's Cup March" STRING ORCHESTRA "Reveries" "Black Ball Counts Double" FULL ORCHESTRA "Metamorphic Fanfare" "Portent and Apotheosis" (aka "Concerto for Orchestra") "O Worship the King"