Cellist David Short is one of Sphere’s core group of founding musicians, one of Sphere’s arrangers, and recently has taken on the role of Artistic Director.
In addition to playing with Sphere, he is a member of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, with whom David has toured across the country including performances at the Smithsonian, Lincoln Center, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Turner Classic Movie Festival and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. David is also a part of Emily Rose Lewis’s Americana/Folk band The Rosemarys, the newest member of Jesse Manley and his Band, a member of the Opera Colorado orchestra, and is the principal cellist for the Colorado Chamber Orchestra. He also teaches privately, mentors students at the Denver School of the Arts and is a coach for the Front Range Youth Symphony.
Growing up in the Albany, NY area, David’s experience with string instruments began with the violin at age 3. It did not last. Five years later he began studying cello and now, a couple tens of years later, it’s still going strong. He received a degree in Cello Performance at Ithaca College and moved to Colorado in 2002 to study at CU Boulder. Since that time he has played with Telling Stories: Essays and Music, Peak Chamber Players, the Cheyenne Symphony, Strings of Tao, Greeley Philharmonic, Fort Collins Symphony, Penumbra Quartet and the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra.
David first started arranging on an Atari ST with a program called The Music Studio. The sounds were delightfully hideous MIDI, examples of which can be found on YouTube. (Just search “The Music Studio” and “Atari ST.”) The program had a piano staff and every instrument was color coded, so you knew which digital sound was “flute,” or “oboe,” or “strings.” These early pieces have thankfully been lost to time and obsolescence.
When not performing, practicing, teaching or arranging, David takes every opportunity to hike in the mountains with his wife, fellow Spherist Chris S, or to cook, making a pretty good mushroom risotto or pesto anything. He also loves board games for the opportunity to be around a table with friends. Maybe there would be a couple of beverages there, too, and sitting and talking. Sometimes a game would happen, too.
