davidatkinson.ca

Born in 1986, David spent his childhood years growing up in Ottawa, where his family settled after emigrating from Britain in 1982. While still a young child, his family discovered his keen ear and began teaching him to play and read music before he could read English. By the age of 5, he had begun studying classical piano privately with Gabor Finta, and would continue to do so for thirteen years.

During those years, David competed regularly in local and national-level competitions across Ontario. He won several trophies, and received scholarships for eight straight years in the Kiwanis Music Festival. His early exposure to public performing earned him recognition around Ottawa as a young rising star. By the age of eleven, David had begun performing at some very high-profile venues around town, including Parliament Hill, Centrepointe Theatre, and the French, Slovakian and Hungarian Embassys.

While David’s earliest exposure to jazz music came from his older brother James, also a pianist, it wasn’t until the age of 15 when David got into jazz seriously, when he was asked to be a founding member of the Ottawa Junior Jazz Band. The following year, he became a member of the award-winning Nepean All-City Jazz Band directed by IAJE-recognized jazz educator Neil Yorke-Slader. By the time he turned 17, he was already working professionally around the Ottawa music scene in both solo settings, and with bands like The Inertia Project, The Brian Downey Big Band as well as the once-highly-successful-but-now-defunct Groovebug. By this time, David was also noticed by the music program at Carleton University, and was asked to play in their jazz orchestra.

In the summer of 2004, David was selected to play in the CBC Galaxie Youth All-Star Clinic. This seven-piece band is comprised of youth from around Canada and is put together once a year for a week of workshops and rehearsals, followed by a performance on the main stage of the Ottawa International Jazz Festival. This year’s group had the honour of working with Kurt Rosenwinkel, David Occhipinti and John Geggie, while under the direction of Rob Frayne.

In September of that year, David moved to Toronto to start his bachelor’s degree in music at Humber College. In just over a year, David has already established himself firmly in the music scene. Soon after arriving at Humber, David picked up the mallets and started to learn to play the vibraphone. Only two months later was he honoured by being asked to play on stage with jazz legend Dave Holland during Humber’s Aritst-in-Residence week, as a temporary member of the Ted Quinlan Contemporary Jazz Workshop. Later that year, David was awarded the Universal Music Canada award, given to the most promising student in their first-year.

Now David is keeping busy and playing regularly around town, often in one of his five bands. Most recently, David has been very active in the studio - there are three albums featuring his playing that are expected to be released this year. To find out when David is next performing, check out the events page for an up-to-date listing.