David Handel

David Handel (1982) is a renowned American conductor who is currently the Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Bolivia and the Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica UN Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. His creative programming and community outreach initiatives have brought record numbers of Bolivians to National Symphony concerts. Since the beginning of his tenure in 1997, audience attendance has increased by over 600 percent.

Maestro Handel has led numerous first performances and world premiers and has to his credit a considerable list of television appearances and CD recordings. David began playing the violin at age 7. He played first violin in the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra and was a member of all-county and all-state orchestras while in high school. At age 15, he was given the opportunity to direct the Williamsville Central School District Orchestra and has said that he knew, at that moment, what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

After graduating from South High School, he attended the University of Michigan where he earned his Bachelor of Musical Arts degree and a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting. He was invited to serve as an apprentice to Maestro Kurt Masur, who was then Music Director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in East Germany. In 1993, Mr. Handel was selected to conduct the New York Philharmonic in a preview of young conductors at Carnegie Hall.

Twice a fellow of the prestigious Fulbright Program, Maestro Handel is a laureate of the Chicago Artists International Program and has received numerous awards and honors for his talent and outstanding community service in the arts, both in the United States and abroad. As one of the most respected and innovative conductors in Latin America, he has represented the United States as a recipient of U.S. Information Agency awards and as a Cultural Ambassador through the U.S. State Department Cultural Specialist Program.