PIANO
Born in Sydney, David began playing the violin at the age of 4, the piano at 7 and within five years had completed the initial eight grades of the A.M.E.B. piano scheme. At 12, David entered Newington College as a music scholar and in addition to his piano studies, studied composition and musicology with Richard Gill for a period of eight years before moving to London to complete his B.Mus (Hons) at the Royal College of Music where he studied with noted pianist and professor, Julian Jacobson.
Whilst living in London, David worked extensively as a session pianist in addition to giving numerous recitals and concerts with a number of esteemed soloists and chamber groups. Upon returning to Australia, he moved to Melbourne as a pianist at the Australian National Academy of Music where he has been based since 2009. David has been featured on ABC Classic FM, Radio National, 2mbsFM and 3mbsFM in addition to having performed in many of the major concert halls and venues in Australia, Romania and the United Kingdom. David continues to work as a pianist specializing in chamber music in addition to his commitments as an avid educator.
COMPOSITION
David’s compositional quest began at the age of 7 with a series of short Bagatelles for solo piano. Soon after these first works were completed, the tutelage of Trevor Pierce was to guide and encourage a formidable body of work consisting of over a hundred solo violin caprices after Paganini (One of which was awarded a ‘highly commended’ in the 1996 ‘Sydney Morning Herald Young Composer Awards’), several sets of short piano pieces, a number of pieces for various chamber ensembles, movements for a Piano Concerto, Violin and Viola Concerto and two Violin Concertos to name but a few.
The proliferation of David’s enthusiasm for the art form was to take a more focussed approach at the age of 12 when he was placed under the mentorship of the late Richard Gill. For the following years, David’s compositional output consisted mainly of compositional exercises in harmony and counterpoint, which laid the basis for a number of works in the style of the past masters, most notably J.S. Bach. It is during this time that David entered Newington College as a music scholar where he was awarded the annual prize for composition for 5 consecutive years. After transferring to the Royal College of Music (London) from the Sydney Conservatorium in 2004, David interacted with composers Jonathan Cole, Kenneth Hesketh, Louis Andriessen and Mark-Anthony Turnage during a focussed development of his own compositional vernacular. In addition to his activities at the RCM, David was invited to study with Rolf Martinsson as a guest of the Malmö Academy of Music (Sweden) for a short period in 2006. Having completed his Masters by Research (with Distinction) in 2022, David is currently enrolled as a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide with a RTP Scholarship.
David has become established as one of the next generation of critically acclaimed Australian composers with past commissions including: Introduction and Rondo for small orchestra (Sydney Symphony Orchestra Sinfonia) 2009, The Legend of Nintendo for String Quartet (Ensemble Urbane) 2012, Tasting Notes (Tarrawarra Estate Yarra Valley) 2014, Septet (Melbourne Ensemble for ABC Classics) 2020, Quartettsätze, Scherzo, and String Quartet No.1 (Australian String Quartet) 2016, 2020, and 2022 respectively.
"Paterson's new work proved a revelation - attractive tonal music that seems to spill off the page. . . Interesting use of dynamic contrasts, neat cross rhythms and strong melodies showed this work to be a cut above. . ."
- Steve Moffatt (Limelight, 2022)
". . . the second movement Adagio Tranquillo was an outstanding source of musical magic."
- Julie McErlain (Classic Melbourne, 2022)
“David… demonstrate[s] a firm command of technique…”
- David Barmby (Artshub, 2019)
“David’s… contrasting movements [were] attractively coloured with rich harmonic depth.”
- Maxim Boon (The Age, 2019)