David Mannes (16 February 1866 – 25 April 1959) was an American violinist, conductor, educator, and community organizer.

He studied the violin in Harlem with composer and violinist John Thomas Douglass, the son of a freed slave,[1] and later in Berlin with Karel Halíř.

He believed music to be a universal language, and that it could be used to bridge divides between races and social classes in America.

[citation needed] From 1917 to 1941, Mannes conducted free public concerts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Great Hall.

Mannes is also discussed in Maurice Peress' "Dvorak to Duke Ellington: A Conductor Explores America's Music and Its African American Roots."