David Ross Garner (born August 4, 1954) is an American composer of opera and vocal, instrumental, and chamber music.
He is married to the classical pianist Dale Tsang, who has premiered many of his solo piano and chamber works, along with distinguished soloists.
He has produced a continuous output of compositional work since the early 1980s, shortly after becoming a faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory.
[8] Mary Pleasant at Land’s End is Garner’s first full-length opera, composed of two acts and set to a libretto by Mark Hernandez, also an alumnus of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
[4] The opera gives an account of Mary Ellen Pleasant, a daughter of slaves who assisted with the Underground Railroad before moving West to San Francisco’s Barbary Coast.
The opera explores Pleasant’s significance as an integral part of the founding of San Francisco and the state of California, as she fought to ensure the civil rights of black settlers.
According to librettist Mark Hernandez, the opera “traces much of Pleasant’s astonishing life, beginning with her days as a shepherd for the Underground Railroad.
Her championing of people and causes, however, brings her into conflict with a more familiar face of wealth and power, and the ensuing struggle plays out in a notorious courtroom drama that mesmerizes the public.
An essential figure in the founding of San Francisco, and indeed the state of California, she is forgotten even as the city bursts into world prominence.”[10] Set in the 1880s, Mary Pleasant at Land’s End is composed of two acts (approximately two hours of music total), and calls for four principal artists, six comprimario artists, and mixed chorus.
[11] Hernandez’s libretto draws on language and circumstances of the time, drawing on the historical perspective gathered in Lynn M. Hudson’s book, “The Making of ‘Mammy Pleasant’.” Hernandez “felt it was important that it be as [historically] accurate as possible.” [11] A full workshop of the opera was presented on January 14, 2017 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Yaghmai purposely sought out Garner as someone who would merge the sound and techniques of Western composition to the melodies originating in the Middle East.
The Project has currently produced eighteen songs, with five pieces receiving their orchestrated world premiere with Oakland East Bay Symphony in 2008.
Works by Francisco de Paula Aguier, David Garner, Nathan Pawelek, Mark Adam Watkins, Christopher Wiggins, Daniel Wood.
Works by William Bolcom, David Garner, Gordon Getty, Jake Heggie, Luna Pearl Woolf.
Performed by Kristin Pankonin, Lisa Delan, Stephanie Friede, William Stone, Francsico Araiza, Susanne Mentzer.
Works by Mark Adamo, William Bolcom, John Corigliano, David Garner, Gordon Getty, Jake Heggie, Luna Pearl Woolf.
Performed by Lisa Delan, Lester Lynch, Steven Bailey, Dawn Harms, Musicians of the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Volti Chorus.
1997 – Sarlo Family Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching 2012 – Faculty Development Grant, for recording Spoon River Songs 2012 – Faculty Development Grant, for recording Spoon River Songs 2013 – Nomination, American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Music 2013 – Nomination, American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Music 2014 – Hal Leonard Labor of Love Composition Contest, for Cinq Hommages 2014 – Hal Leonard Labor of Love Composition Contest, for Cinq Hommages 2014 – Opera Parallèle, Grant Award for creation of Mary Pleasant at Land’s End 2014 – Opera Parallèle, Grant Award for creation of Mary Pleasant at Land’s End 2015 – Faculty Development Grant, for recording Surviving: Women’s Words 2015 – Faculty Development Grant, for recording Surviving: Women’s Words 2015 – First Prize, American Prize in Composition, String Quartet No.