David Cooper’s passion for the French horn is in his blood, with both his uncle and grandmother serving as horn players in the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. When David was only11, he earned his grandmother’s horn after proving he could play his first scale. She sent him home with a couple of Dennis Brain recordings and he has been enthralled with the horn ever since! He began his studies right away with Dale Barlett, his Grandmother’s colleague in the Lansing Symphony. David began playing with Michigan State University ensembles when only 15 and was in the top MSU collegiate ensemble at age 16.
David attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadephia from 2002-2004 and was awarded a Tanglewood Fellowship in 2003. Soon after school he did a year of service as an Americorps intern with the Jefferson Land Trust in Port Townsend, Washington. David’s first professional symphonic appointment was as acting Principal horn of the Victoria Symphony from 2006 -2008. While still in Victoria, David won Co Associate Principal horn of the Fort Worth Symphony and was there from 2008-2011. After Fort Worth, David moved next door to the Dallas Symphony as 3rd horn in 2011. In 2013, David won Principal horn of the National Symphony in Washington D.C. but, within weeks, he was appointed Principal horn of the Dallas Symphony, where he still currently plays. David has also played guest Principal horn with the London Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. David enjoys many solo and chamber music appearances in the United States and abroad. He is currently the Music Director of Avant Chamber Ballet in Dallas, TX, which he helped found with his wife Katie Cooper in 2012.