J. David Arnott, DMA

J. David Arnott, DMA, a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts, and the University of Southern Mississippi, moved to Minnesota in 2001 to accept the position of Orchestra Director and Assistant Professor of Music at The College of Saint Benedict.

Having lived and worked as a professional musician in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and Kansas, Dr. Arnott has extensive experience both playing and conducting. While serving as Assistant Principal Violist of the Mississippi Symphony, he also served as conductor of the Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra. In Philadelphia he was principal violist of the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra and in New Jersey he was Principal violist of the Bridgeton Symphony Orchestra and the Haddonfield Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Arnott was also a member of the South Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Trenton Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Arnott has participated in many festivals in both the United States and in Europe including Lutheran Summer Music, The National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado, The Bear Lake Music Festival in Utah, The Evian Music Festival in France and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany.  In the Spring of 2001, Arnott was chosen to receive a conducting fellowship at the South Carolina Conductors Institute. 

Dr. Arnott is currently the president of the Minnesota chapter of the American Viola Society and he holds memberships in ASTA, The Conductors Guild, MENC, and the Minnesota Music Educators Association.