Composer David Gaines (b. 1961) has been recognized both by critics and by other artists for his imaginative orchestrations and his uniquely international and eclectic style. His music, which has been performed across the United States and Europe, includes two symphonies, concertos for baritone saxophone, trombone, and euphonium, plus a variety of chamber, choral, and electronic music. Recordings are available in compact disc and digital download formats on the MMC Recordings, Navona Records and Verda Stelo Music labels. New chamber music recordings (...and dispel the miseries of the world for baritone saxophone & chamber orchestra, Suite Of Changes for viola & mallet percussion, and Jubilee for euphonium & piano) appear on the album Conversations: Chamber Works of John Bilotta and David Gaines (in enhanced compact disc and digital download formats) on the Navona Records label. A graduate of Northwestern University, American University, and Johns Hopkins University's Peabody Conservatory of Music (where he earned a doctoral degree in composition), Dr. Gaines studied with M. William Karlins, Stephen Syverud, Jerzy Sapieyevski, Jean Eichelberger Ivey, and Robert Sirota. His awards include annual ASCAP Standard Awards since 2000 as well as first prize in the 1997 College Music Society Mid Atlantic Chapter Student Composers Competition and first prize in the song division of the World Esperanto Association's 1995 International Fine Arts Competition. The "Society and Esperanto" Foundation of Bulgaria named him an Honorary Life Member in 1994, and in 2006 the international organization Muzika Esperanto-Ligo awarded him the title of Honorary President in recognition of his usage of the international language Esperanto in his music. Dr. Gaines has served on the faculty of New School University's online Master of Media Technology degree program, for which he created the first Internet university-level music course for credit (on the history of electronic music technology), as well as University of Maryland University College, where he held the rank of adjunct associate professor. Recent performances have included the piano reduction version of the Concerto for euphonium & orchestra at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia; Duo for flute & tuba at the renowned Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh; Lyric Fanfare for trombone & piano at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan, the University of Oregon, Texas State University-San Marcos, and Shoreline Community College in Washington state; Five Miniatures for flute and euphonium at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Nebraska at Kearney; and the premiere of a new trombone concerto for Robert Kozánek (principal trombonist, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra) as part of the 60th anniversary celebration in September of the P. J. Vejvanovský Conservatory in Kroměříž, Czech Republic. Outside of his musical activities, Dr. Gaines has been an animal welfare activist and an advocate for ferrets and other small mammals for many years, and is a former volunteer director of legal and legislative affairs for the American Ferret Association. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.