Born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1963, David Sanford received degrees in music theory and composition from the University of Northern Colorado, New England Conservatory, and Princeton University. His honors include fellowships from the American Academy in Rome, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Radcliffe Institute. He was the subject of a Composer Portrait concert at Miller Theater and has recently been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has received commissions from the Fromm Foundation, Chamber Music America, the Koussevitzky Foundation, the Barlow Endowment, and the Mary Flagler Cary Trust. In addition, his works have received performances by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra under Marin Alsop, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Chicago Symphony Chamber Players among many others. The Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s recording of the composer’s, Black Noise, was named one of “The 25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2019” by the New York Times; and cellist Matt Haimovitz’s disc Meeting of the Spirits with his ensemble UCCELLO, which featured seven jazz arrangements and one composition by Sanford, was nominated for a Grammy Award. He has been the Fromm Visiting Professor at Harvard, and is currently the Elizabeth T. Kennan Professor of Music at Mount Holyoke College, and the founder and director of the David Sanford Big Band whose recording A Prayer For Lester Bowie featuring Hugh Ragin was released on Greenleaf Music and topped several critics’ lists for best jazz album of 2021.