David Quang-Minh Nguyen is an audio engineer, sound designer/re-recording mixer, and composer of concert music. His current interests lie in composing acousmatic works that explore multi-channel loudspeaker expansion, various types of sound spatialization, and immersive audio.

Recognized nationally and internationally, David has had his works presented at the June in Buffalo New Music Festival, where he received individual master classes with Harvey Sollberger, Martin Bresnick, Roger Reynolds, and Brian Ferneyhough. He was an active participant in the Festival DME under the direction of Åke Parmerud, Musique & Recherches Académie d'été de composition électroacoustique under the direction of Annette Vande Gorne and João Pedro Oliveira, and the Sounds Around Me Festival under Thomas Gorbach. He was also selected by Master Artist Robert Normandeau for a residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts.

His works have been presented at more than fifty national and international events, and he is a laureate or finalist in numerous competitions.  He has been published on ABLAZE Records' Electronic Masters Vol. 7 and received an honorable mention at the XII° Destellos Electroacoustic Competition 2019 for his work Misprints.  He also placed 2nd in the XIII° Destellos competition for Adumbrations, was a finalist for the PRIX CIME 2019, and won 2nd place for the ASCAP/SEAMUS Award for his work Weight Stranding. In 2021, his SEAMUS-commissioned piece Whale Song Stranding was selected for presentation on the SEAMUS 31 CD and received the Ars Electronica Forum Wallis selection.  David was awarded the Prix CIME 2023 Residency Award for Whale Song Stranding.  His work Texture Arc the Points won 1st place in the ULJUS Međunarodno Pijanističko Takmičenje Smederevo Competition and 2nd place in the prestigious Concours Biennal de Composition Acousmatique Métamorphoses.

David Q. Nguyen holds a BM from Old Dominion University, where he studied with Andrey R. Kasparov and Mark Chambers.  He also graduated at the top of his class from The Omega Studios School of Applied Recording Arts & Sciences with a focus on Audio Engineering in the Music Industry and Film/Television.  He has received his Master and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where his primary teachers are Reynold Tharp, Erik Lund, Eli Fieldsteel, Sever Tipei, and Scott A. Wyatt.

Thomas Joseph is a current graduate student at Shenandoah Conservatory. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Composition from Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA). He studied composition under Andrey Kasparov, Associate Professor of Music at ODU, and Mark Chambers. Joseph has additional studies in piano and horn. He is also an adjunct faculty member of the Old Dominion Community Music Program for Theory and Composition. Joseph was awarded the Undergraduate Research Award at ODU to facilitate a recital which included an original work titled Quartet (2009-2010) for soprano saxophone, vibraphone, acoustic guitar and harpsichord. This work also served as a teaching aid during the Undergraduate Research Symposium in which he lectured on the creative and organizational process of music composition. Additionally, he spearheaded the execution of another grant which produced ODU's first composition group student recital.

In 2010, Thomas Joseph won the Young Artist Competition at ODU with Concert Music for Orchestra. He also received an award for Outstanding Graduating Student of the music department. Recent performances include Fanfare (2010) commissioned and performed by the Eastern Virginia Brass Quintet, Sonatina for Flute and Piano performed by Bonnie Kim (flute) and Andrey Kasparov (piano) at the Hampton Roads Flute Faire, Dominion Fanfare (previously known as Fanfare 2013) by the ODU Wind Ensemble and Trombone Beast Suite premiered by Mike Hall (trombone) and Stephen Coxe (piano).

In addition to Quartet, works composed at ODU include Preludes and Fugue (2010), an antiphonal three prelude and fugue work for three separate quartets, respectively comprised of double reeds, clarinets, and strings; Music for Celesta, Harp, Piano, Percussion, and Strings (2010); Impromptu for Horn (2010); Distortions( 2010) and Fortitude (2009) for orchestra; Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor (2010), Toccata No. 1 for Four Hands and Toccata No. 2 for solo piano (2010), and Fantasia for Piano (2009).

Joseph has recently composed An Hour of Rumination for Wind Ensemble (2012) and an Unaccompanied Solo for Violin (2012). Other recent compositions include many more wind ensemble works such as Legend, Pulse, Pentahedron Prisms, Autumn, Anthem, Shades of America, Farewell Celebration, Sentiments, and Joker. Additional solo and chamber pieces include Exultation: Concerto for Trumpet, Exultation for Percussion Ensemble, Suite for Six (Natural) Horns, Music for Clarinet and Piano, Waltz for Horn/Viola and Piano, and Piano Sonata No. 2 in C minor.

Joseph's Concerto Dystonia for solo horn and orchestra (as well as horn and piano) chronicles the composer's own battle with task-specific focal dystonia. Concerto Dystonia is meant to bring awareness to the neurological condition of focal dystonia, in which the brain short-circuits and the sufferer experiences muscle spasms with no apparent physical disabilities. Utilizing different playing techniques, the piece depicts a skillful performer's gradual decline in technical ability. However, hope for a future of recovery is also demonstrated to encourage fellow sufferers of focal dystonia.

Composer, Conductor, Music Instructor. 
MM: Music Composition from Shenandoah Conservatory. 
BM: Music Composition from Old Dominion University.

District New Music Coalition promotes the performance and appreciation of contemporary music by connecting performers, composers, institutions, and audiences located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area through concerts, conferences, and active community-building.

Followers of John Allgood