David Milnes

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David Milnes (born October 21, 1956) is an American conductor and instrumentalist. He is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley Department of Music and the music director of the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra and the Eco Ensemble.

Milnes grew up on Long Island, New York in a musical family and attended Half Hollow Hills West High School in Dix Hills. From an early age, he played many instruments, including piano, clarinet, saxophone, cello, flute, violin, and organ.

He earned a BA in Music from Stony Brook University in 1978, focusing on conducting and clarinet performance. He then earned a Masters and Doctorate in conducting from the Yale School of Music, studying under Otto-Werner Mueller. He also studied with conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Erich Leinsdorf, and Herbert Blomstedt.

Milnes began his professional conducting career after Yale by joining the Exxon Conducting Program. His conducting debut with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra was in November 1983, leading a side-by-side performance of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Overture with the San Francisco Symphony. He became the music director of the Youth Orchestra in 1984.

He later conducted frequently in Eastern Europe and Russia and served as principal guest conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, where he led a wide range of works, from Berlioz to Steve Reich.

Milnes also taught at SUNY Purchase and Southern Methodist University, leading their symphony orchestras and teaching about the symphonic repertoire. In 1994 he was nominated for a Grammy for his recording of Zingari by John Anthony Lennon. He conducted at the Curtis Institute of Music, including a notable production of Mozart’s Idomeneo.

In 1996 Milnes joined UC Berkeley’s faculty to promote a strong focus on twentieth‑century repertoire, including Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev. The Berkeley Symphony also emphasizes new music, often works by graduate students in composition. From 2002 to 2009 he served as the music director of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players.