David Stewart

Violinist David Stewart has enjoyed a wide range of experience in the music profession: as frequent soloist with orchestra, recitalist, chamber musician, studio musician, baroque violinist, concertmaster, university professor (University of Ottawa and the University of Manitoba), conductor, and as 1st violin of the Quatuor Lumière, a classical period-instrument quartet.

Presently re-engaged as First Concertmaster of the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway, he re-won his position after a 20 years’ absence.

He has been a leader in several orchestras, starting out as assistant concertmaster of the Victoria Symphony, Concertmaster of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and a mentor/apprentice position as Concertmaster of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. He has worked as a guest concertmaster in several orchestras including the Hanover Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Trondheim Symphony, the Norwegian Opera Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, the Canadian Opera Company, and is regularly a guest concertmaster with the Porto (Portugal) National Symphony.

His passion for excellence in orchestral playing has led to many engagements as conductor/coach for youth orchestras around the world: multi-year engagements with the Deutsch-Skandinavische Jugend-Philharmonie in Berlin, the Orchestre de la Francophonie in Montréal, the Grieg Academy in Bergen, coaching for Norges musikkhøgskole in Oslo, Norway, and the Copenhagen Youth Orchestra. As well, he has toured China fourteen times as conductor and soloist with student ensembles from Canada and Norway.

His teachers included Oscar Shumsky, Steven Staryk, and Camilla Wicks. Mr. Stewart is co-founder of the Quatuor Lumière, the Agassiz Chamber Music Festival, and the Norwegian Contemporary music ensemble BIT20.